Family of Four
by DiddyKF1
Summary: A new series I'm starting with my good friend, grimlock1997. Set in the Boomverse, and starring Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Zooey the Vixen and Mina Mongoose. Artwork by TheCareBearGirl. UPDATE: Series has now been discontinued.
1. Fun in the Snow

**_So, for the past couple of months, grimlock1997 and I have been coming up with ideas for a new "Family of Four" series starring Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Mina Mongoose and Zooey the Vixen, and since the holidays are coming up, we thought of starting off the series with a Christmas-themed story._**

 ** _So, here we are now with our first-ever episode of "Family of Four"! We hope you enjoy this!_**

* * *

 ** _FAMILY OF FOUR_**

* * *

 ** _FUN IN THE SNOW  
_**

* * *

It was winter time on Bygone Island, and all across the island was a blanket of soft snow, covering the jungles and almost the whole of Hedgehog Village. Winter winds blew gently across the sky, while snowflakes fell silently from the clouds, and the night time sky was hardly seen, as snow clouds were blocking out any signs of the full moon.

The citizens of Hedgehog Village were walking through the snow in their appropriate winter clothing. The weather had gotten cold over the past few weeks, so people started either wearing warm winter jackets, with their hats, scarves and gloves, or they'd stay inside their homes and keep warm by the fire place, or even just stay in their toasty warm beds.

With 24 days left until Christmas Day, everyone was doing a bit of last minute Christmas shopping, as people wanted to shop for last minute items before Christmas Day arrived within the next three weeks.

However, one little family had already finished Christmas shopping early, and they were now having some winter fun in the snow together.

Just near the center of town, Sonic the Hedgehog was racing around in the snow at speed, kicking up snow dust behind him, as he wore his gray and blue patched winter jacket, along with his grayish-blue gloves and winter boots. He didn't wear any trousers despite how freezing the winter weather could be. He had a snowball in his gloved hand, as he was looking for a very familiar and beautiful mongoose.

"Mina! Where are you?" Sonic called out, "Come on! I just wanna show you a snowball I made! I promise it won't be a cold one!"

As Sonic raced around, snowball in his glove, he was unaware to the fact that Mina Mongoose, who was Sonic's girlfriend with a beautiful and talented singing voice, was actually hiding behind one of the many buildings in Hedgehog Village, giggling quietly to herself as she watched her boyfriend Sonic running around in circles, trying to look for her.

Secretly, Mina had a snowball of her own in her hands, intending to throw it at Sonic, before he could hit her with his own snowball.

For winter clothing, she was wearing a green winter hat with small purple stripes across it, along with wearing black winter tights, comfy purple and green streaked winter boots, a black winter jacket with a purple streak on the bottom half of it, and for gloves, she just wore her trademark white and green ones. Her purple and yellow hair was hanging behind her head, flowing freely rather than tied up like usual.

"I'm gonna get you good, Sonic," Mina said quietly to herself with a smile.

Peeking carefully behind the building she was hiding behind, while trying to keep her shoes from crunching in the snow, Mina watched Sonic run around once more, before coming to a stop in the middle of the center of town. He was still holding his snowball in his glove, but he couldn't find his girlfriend.

"Come on, Mina!" said Sonic to no one in particular, "Where are you?! I just wanna show you my snowball!"

Mina hid behind the building again, smiling with sparkly eyes at the thought of Sonic wanting to 'show' her the snowball he made, and the blue hedgehog had no doubt hit her with.

"I'll show you my snowball first, sugar plum," she giggled, peaking back from the building.

Once Sonic turned around, Mina made her move. The mongoose girl stepped away from the safety of her hiding spot, and she blasted her way at speed towards the blue hedgehog. A purple aura trailed behind her form, as she raced her way to Sonic.

Sonic had only just turned back around, and before he could even get time to react or sidestep, Mina threw her snowball straight at Sonic, which flew like a rocket and then splatted all over his unsuspecting face.

"Aaahhh!" he exclaimed as the cold snow hit him, "Mina!"

"Gotcha, Sonic!" laughed Mina, slowing herself down to a stop next to Sonic.

"I didn't know you were behind me!" whined Sonic, shivering a bit from the cold.

"Well, you did say to me yesterday that I need to be much sneakier in snowball fights, sugar plum!" replied Mina with a cheeky grin, "And I took your advice to my advantage to snowball ya!"

Sonic only frowned for a few seconds, before he eventually broke into a chuckling smile, as Mina brushed away the snow from the hedgehog's face.

"Well played, Mina," Sonic chuckled, "You got me good."

"Yes, I most certainly have, sugar plum," Mina agreed, smiling.

Snowflakes continued to fall quietly in the winter breeze, as Sonic and Mina then wrapped their arms around each other, and came in for a winter kiss together. If there was one thing that could keep the hedgehog and mongoose feeling warm at Christmas, it was their shared love for each other.

After a couple of seconds, Sonic and Mina broke their kiss, and placed their foreheads together, looking lovingly into each other's eyes, with Sonic's remaining their pure emerald green, while Mina's green eyes were sparkly with love and care for her boyfriend.

"I love you, Mina Mongoose," said Sonic lovingly.

"I love you too, Sonic the Hedgehog," replied Mina as the two gently rubbed noses together.

When they started pulling away and unwrapping their arms from each other, Sonic backed up quickly and threw his snowball he still had in his glove straight into Mina's face.

"EEK!" Mina shouted in surprise, "Sonic!"

"Heh heh!" laughed Sonic, "Gotcha back!"

Sonic then quickly blasted away at speed, leaving behind his blue aura that trailed behind him whenever he ran fast.

He laughed heartily just as Mina brushed off her face from his snowball and made a playful glare after her speeding boyfriend.

"Ooh, I'm gonna get ya, Sonic!" Mina shouted, "I'm gonna get ya!"

Mina took off after Sonic, purple aura trailing behind her, and snow dust trailing under her boots.

While Sonic and Mina were playing cat and mouse in the snow, running around the townspeople and blasting at supersonic speeds, another pair of lovebirds were nearby in the town, building a snowman.

Tails and Zooey were just adding on an old scarf to their recently built snowman. Like Sonic and Mina, these two young lovers shared a special love that was unbreakable, although Tails had been together with Zooey a little bit longer than Sonic had with Mina.

As Zooey, who was wearing a knitted winter hat over her ears, wrapped the scarf around the snowman she and Tails had built, she caught a glance at Mina chasing Sonic.

"I see Sonic and Mina are at it again with their snowball fights," chuckled Zooey.

"Why am I not surprised?" chuckled Tails.

"This snowman looks so gorgeous!" said Zooey, as she looked at their snowy creation.

"It just needs a hat and it'll be done," said Tails, gazing with wonder.

Their snowman was made of three snowballs and featured tree branches for arms, several buttons on the chest, the recently wrapped scarf around its neck, and a neatly-done smiley face with a carrot nose. For Tails and Zooey, this was the most beautiful snowman they had ever created together.

Meanwhile, Mina was now the one being chased by Sonic, and now it seemed that the two lovers were engaged in a game of tag in the snow.

"Hehe! You're it, sugar plum!" Mina laughed, running through the snow.

"You can't outrun the fastest hedgehog in town, Mina!" Sonic shouted in return with a laugh.

As they ran about with their game of tag, Tails and Zooey just laughed together as they saw Sonic chasing after his sweet mongoose girl.

Then, Zooey seemed to notice that Tails was apparently staring at her coat and he was smiling at it, looking a little bit cheeky as well.

"Okay, Tails, what are you smiling at?" asked Zooey.

"Oh, just, uh, ... I can't help but see how your coat is so fluffy," chuckled Tails sheepishly, although he quickly began to regret saying that.

"Fluffy, you say? Hmm," said Zooey with a somewhat mischievous grin.

"Um, ... y-yeah," said Tails nervously.

"There's only one thing I can think of doing when I hear the word 'fluffy'," said Zooey.

Tails began to back away with tiny steps, but his girlfriend easily sensed what he was trying to do, and she instinctively knocked him down into the snow and started tickling the fox on the chest.

"Hey! No! Stop! Naaahahahahahahahahahahohohoho!" laughed Tails as he shook around from the sudden ticklish sensations.

"You want fluffiness? You got it!" teased Zooey.

"Pleeheeheeheeheehease!" begged Tails, "I didn't meeheeheeheehean it that wahahahahay!"

"Sorry, Tails, but sometimes I just can't resist!" said Zooey with a teasing smile, and she continued to wiggle her fingers all over Tails' chest, making the fox thrash around in the snow, trying in vain to escape the tickle torture he wished he wouldn't be getting out in all this snow.

"Pleeheeheeheeheehease!" laughed Tails, "Stahahahahahahahahop!"

"I don't think so! I think your laughs are just too cute!" replied Zooey, and she moved her fingers to Tails' armpits, as she knew those were among his more ticklish spots.

"AAH! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" Tails squealed with laughter, "NAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOHOHOHOHO!"

"Now that's the kind of fluffiness I love to give my sweetie!" chuckled Zooey, as her tickling practically turned her boyfriend into a simple laughing poodle.

Before long, she moved her fingers up to Tails' cheeks and gave his face some very ticklish sensations that brought more laughs out of his mouth.

"MMHMMHMMKEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEEE!" the two-tailed fox giggled uncontrollably.

"Wait, I know a more fluffy way to keep that smile on your face!" teased Zooey, and she held one end of her scarf and gently brushed it against Tails' cheeks.

"No! NO! NAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" chortled Tails, as the soft scarf tickled his cheeks so much that his whole body was shaking and his legs were swinging up and down.

"Oh, yes! Those are the most adorable laughs I've heard all day!" smiled Zooey with satisfaction.

Within a moment, though, it quickly became apparent that tickling Tails' face with her scarf tickled him so much that he nearly fainted from exhaustion, so she immediately stopped tickling him and allowed him to catch his breath.

After a whole minute, the fox finally recomposed himself and stared up at his girlfriend.

"I sure hope you never plan to tickle me like that again!" Tails panted.

"Well, you did ask for some fluffiness, didn't you?" replied Zooey, fluttering her eyelids.

Tails chuckled as he watched his girlfriend's eyelids fluttering.

"Well, yeah, but not like that," said Tails.

"Hmm, how about this?" asked Zooey, and she helped her boyfriend back up and gave him a great big hug, before kissing him on the cheek.

Tails blushed and smiled cutely at his girlfriend as they hugged each other tightly in a very warm embrace that almost made their hearts melt.

"That feels ... much better," he sighed dreamily, making Zooey giggle.

Then, as soon as the two young lovers ended their winter hug, they heard a squeal within the town. Turning, Tails and Zooey saw that Sonic was still chasing after Mina, only he was now throwing snowballs at her, intending to playfully hit her with a cold snowball like before.

"Eek!" exclaimed Mina playfully, "Ice cold snowballs! Keep away from me, Sonic Frost!"

"Keep still, Mina!" laughed Sonic as he threw snowballs on the run, "It's only snow!"

Mina only laughed along as she kept on speeding around the town and avoiding Sonic's fast throwing snowballs. Sonic continued to chase his girlfriend around, throwing snowballs as fast as he could.

Zooey and Tails chuckled at Sonic and Mina, before they remembered about their snowman. It still needed a hat to be placed on top of its head. The question was, though, where were Tails and Zooey going to find a hat to place on their wonderful snowman?

Then, Tails came up with a suggestion, when he suddenly noticed Zooey was wearing her winter hat on her head. He smiled at the idea, and then he glanced to the snowman which had yet to receive a hat.

"Say, Zooey?" Tails asked, "Why not give our snowman your hat?"

"My hat?" Zooey questioned, looking up at her hat, "I guess we could use this old thing for our lovely snowman."

Taking off her hat, Zooey placed the old knitted hat on top of the snowman, which in a literal sense, 'topped it off' nicely. However, while putting the hat on the snowman, the two were suddenly splattered with two snowballs.

"AHH!" shouted Tails, "Cold!"

"Very cold!" exclaimed Zooey, "Who threw those snowballs?!"

"Whoops! Sorry guys!" Mina called to them, as Sonic sped past the two foxes, "I'm trying to get Sonic with some snowballs!"

Mina then raced past the two foxes, with snowballs in her gloved hands that she was trying to hurl at her boyfriend, Sonic.

As Zooey was looking at the hat that she had placed on top of the snowman's head, she suddenly noticed a mistletoe hanging off a tree right behind Tails. She smiled and slowly brought Tails back towards the tree. The fox was confused for a moment from his girlfriend's odd behavior.

"Uh, Zooey, ... w-what are you doing?" Tails asked nervously.

It was then that he looked up and saw the mistletoe, and he blushed profusely.

"Would you like a special kiss under the mistletoe?" Zooey offered with a smile and glistening eyes.

Tails smiled back with deep red cheeks and chuckled sheepishly.

"Uh, ... I guess ...," was all he could say as he was so taken aback by this unexpected event.

"Come here, my sweetie," chuckled Zooey cutely, and she pulled Tails into a hug, much to his surprise, and kissed him delicately on the lips. The fox felt his heart melting with happiness as the kiss sunk in, and he returned the kiss on her lips.

The two kissed for a minute before they finally broke away with red cheeks and smiles. It may have seemed sudden and short, but for Tails, no holiday moment was more magical than a kiss with his loved one under the mistletoe.

"Merry Christmas, Tails," Zooey said, smiling lovingly at Tails, "I love you."

"Heh, and I love you too, Zooey," Tails responded, as the two hugged happily together, as the snow fell between them.

Tails and Zooey held hands together and walked away from the tree where the mistletoe hanged from. As Mina eventually stopped trying to hit Sonic with snowballs, she caught sight of the two young lovers, and she just sighed happily. She was finding Tails and Zooey to be really adorable together, and seeing their love for each other looking almost similar to her own relationship with Sonic made her heart warm and filled with Christmas spirit.

"Those two foxes look so perfect together," Mina said to herself, smiling, "Tails is such a lucky guy to have Zooey in his life."

Mina turned back to face the tree that Tails and Zooey had walked away from, and the mongoose girl soon caught sight of the mistletoe hanging from the tree branch above. Seeing that delicate festive decoration hanging on the tree gave Mina an idea on getting her boyfriend Sonic to kiss her under it.

Sonic was ruffling Tails' head in a playful and brotherly manner, and once he did that, he was walking back over to see where Mina had gone to, and the mongoose girl found this to be the perfect opportunity to catch him under the mistletoe.

"Oh, Sonic?" Mina called in her sweet singing voice.

"Huh?" Sonic asked, turning to see Mina.

Sonic soon saw that Mina was standing underneath a tree with what looked like a mistletoe, which had green leaves and white buds on it. Mina glanced up to the mistletoe briefly, and then glanced back to her boyfriend, fluttering her eyelashes at him, in a flirty sparkly eye fashion. The instant Sonic saw that festive decoration hanging above his girlfriend, his face immediately went red with a blush.

"Come over here, sugar plum, and let's share a Christmas kiss together under this lovely mistletoe," Mina continued, smiling with clasped hands and a little blush of her own.

Sonic gulped nervously with a sweat drop forming on his head. Tails and Zooey glanced at each other, knowing that Sonic was bound to bail out of kissing his girlfriend, due to his inexperience with mistletoes in the past, even before he got together with Mina.

"U-Um, gee, I... I would love t-to, Mina," Sonic said, stuttering, "B-But mistletoes are not my t-thing... really."

Mina's blush and sparkly eyes disappeared, and her smile turned into a smirk, her eyes going half closed, knowing already that Sonic was just trying to weasel his way out of kissing her under a mistletoe.

Placing her hands on her hips, Mina stared to walk over to Sonic, and when the blue hedgehog saw his girlfriend walking to him, he knew that now was the time to try and make a run for it.

"Get over here, Sonic," chuckled Mina, pretending to be annoyed at him, in a similar manner to Amy Rose.

"N-No can d-do, Mina!" Sonic said, sweat dripping from his head, as his started backing away quickly, "Gotta go fast!"

Before Sonic could even get the chance to speed away as fast as his legs could carry him, Mina judged her timing right and dashed at her boyfriend with her super speed, just managing to grab him before he could take off like a ramjet vehicle.

"No you don't, Sonic!" she said, walking back over to the mistletoe, dragging Sonic with her.

"Ahh!" shouted Sonic, "Mina! No! Let me go! Tails! Zooey! Help me!"

All Tails and Zooey could do was just watch and almost laugh their heads off, as Mina dragged Sonic back under the mistletoe, with the blue hedgehog's winter boots leaving drag marks in the snow in the process. Sonic tried desperately in vain to get free of Mina's grip on his jacket, but the mongoose girl proved to have a bit of a stronger grip than he realized.

Finally, after some slightly forceful dragging, Mina managed to get Sonic to stand under the mistletoe, but she kept her hold on her boyfriend's jacket, just in case he tried to escape again. Once again, Sonic tried to get himself away from the festive tradition, and even though he liked to share one or two kisses with his girlfriend, he just didn't want to be under a mistletoe.

To make matters worse, unaware to the blue hedgehog, his little brother, Tails, had gotten a little camera out of his coat pocket, and he started filming the whole thing. Zooey could hardly contain her giggling when she saw Tails starting to film the scene going on.

"M-Mina! Be reasonable!" Sonic shouted with more sweat dropping from his quills, "We're not even anywhere near Christmas yet!"

Mina didn't need to use words to reply to Sonic's protests. She just pretended not to listen to her sugar plum. Before Sonic could even protest anymore, Mina closed her eyes and yanked him towards her, kissing him passionately on the lips under the mistletoe, making him go stiff in surprise, and making both of them blush brightly.

Sonic was at first too stunned to do anything, but he eventually closed his eyes and kissed Mina back with equal passion, wrapping his arms around her.

While the citizens of Hedgehog Village walked on by without giving a glance at the couple, Tails and Zooey just smiled at the two lovers, with Tails cheekily continuing to film the whole moment on his camera. A moment later, Sonic and Mina ended their romantic kiss under the mistletoe, and looked into each other's sparkling eyes, faces blushing red and snowflakes falling on them.

"There, you see, Sonic?" smiled Mina, "Kissing under the mistletoe isn't scary. It's just sharing the magic of Christmas with your loved one."

"Heh, I suppose so, Mina," Sonic chucked, "Your kisses are always sweet and magical to me. But this one is by far one of the best kisses we've ever shared together."

"And we got all on video, too!" Tails spoke up, giggling.

Hearing Tails' voice made Sonic and Mina snap back into reality, and when they heard the word 'video', they quickly turned to see that Tails had just finished filming the whole thing!

What a cheeky little fox!

As Sonic and Mina looked at Tails hitting the stop button on his camera, the two tailed fox suddenly realized that he had said that out loud, and now he had been caught red handed. While Mina giggled and blushed even more in embarrassment, Sonic's blush was twice as red than his girlfriend's blush, and he was even more embarrassed than her.

"Uhh ... oops," Tails muttered, giggling nervously.

"You're in trouble now, Tailsy," Zooey giggled.

"Oh yes, you are SO in trouble, Tails!" said Sonic, glaring with an embarrassed look on his face, "I'm going to have to tickle him, until he deletes that video footage from that sneaky little camera!"

"Eep!" Tails squeaked.

After he heard the word 'tickle', and knowing that Sonic enjoyed tickling his little brother for fun, only in this case it was more for payback, Tails immediately backed away from the slowly approaching Sonic, before he made a mad dash into the air with his twin tails, taking flight almost immediately, the camera still in his hand.

"Gonna have to catch me first, big bro!" Tails exclaimed, as he flew away at quick speed with his tails.

"Hey! Get back here, Tails!" Sonic shouted, speeding off after the flying fox, "You can't get away from me!"

As Sonic chased after Tails, intending to get his playful yet strict revenge on the sneaky little fox, Zooey laughed at the sight of her boyfriend Tails being caught and now being chased down by his own big brother. Mina walked over to see Zooey, as she too watched her boyfriend Sonic chase after Tails.

Snowflakes fell silently, as Mina spoke to Zooey.

"Do you think Sonic will actually catch Tails?" Mina asked with a giggle.

"It depends on how far Tails can keep ahead of Sonic, really," Zooey replied, smiling at Mina, hands in her pockets, "I've seen Amy trying to keep up with Sonic, but that's only when he accidentally gets her mad and makes her try to hit him with her hammer. But Amy can surely run, though. She should try out for the Hedgehog Village Sports Day Event, next year."

After the vixen said that funny little joke, Mina then let out a loud laugh, finding Zooey's sense of humor to be very positive and colorful. It wasn't often people could make Mina Mongoose laugh, but Zooey's little joke was just enough to make her laugh for the first time in ages.

Once the laughter died down, Mina and Zooey looked back up to see Sonic still chasing Tails around, who was flying as fast as he could to get away from his playfully vengeful big brother. Both Mina and Zooey knew that Sonic was eventually going to catch Tails at some point, but with the snow and ice being a problem to the blue hedgehog, then the chase would have to carry on for a little while longer.

"Well, we'd better go and see what those two troublemakers are getting up to in their chase," Mina said, before running off with her super speed, "You coming, Zooey?"

"Sure! Just wait up for me!" Zooey replied, running after Mina.

As the two girls ran off to catch up with Sonic and Tails, the snow carried on falling quietly from the sky, while the Hedgehog Village citizens just carried about their daily routine, walking around in the snow, talking about their excitement for Christmas, and what they would do to celebrate the festive holidays.

Christmas could be a magical time for everyone, but even with 24 days to go, tonight's snow filled activities with Sonic, Tails, Mina and Zooey were a memory to remember in the small family that they had formed together.

* * *

 ** _Well, that will wrap up our first-ever episode of Family of Four. We had fun writing this story, and we hope this will be a great start to a series that will be filled with lots of love and fun in it!_**

 ** _There is a good chance we may do at least one more story before Christmas, but if there just so happens to be the chance that we don't, then we wish you a Merry Christmas! Anyways, this is DiddyKF1 signing out for now, and I'll see you next time! :) Holiday cheers!_**


	2. Festive Decorations

_**FESTIVE DECORATIONS**_

* * *

Heavy snowfall had come to Bygone Island, much heavier than the snow from December 1st, and the island was coated with snow up to a foot high. Many villagers found it difficult to even step outside, but the children loved the idea of playing in the snow, and they didn't hesitate to bundle up and step out into the winter wonderland right outside their windows.

It was now just 13 days before Christmas, but there was still plenty of time for fun in the snow, and spending time with family in the warmth of their cozy homes.

At Tails' house and workshop, Tails had invited Sonic, Mina and Zooey over for the day to help decorate the place for Christmas. The living room ceiling had been covered with green reefs with candy canes, snowy decorations and ornaments hanging down to make the room look like a wintry forest. Multi-colored lights lined up the corners of the walls from top to bottom, so that when the ceiling lights and lamps were turned off at night, they could illuminate the house and give it a beautiful atmosphere.

"You guys are doing a fantastic job at decorating my home!" said Tails, feeling very festive, "Thanks so much for agreeing to help me decorate for Christmas!"

"We're happy to be helping you decorate for Christmas, Tails," replied Zooey, who was hanging up a mistletoe in a corner of the living room.

"With Christmas Day just two weeks away, we all need to help each other out in times of need, especially in the festive season," Sonic added, giving a thumbs up and a wink.

Tails grinned in response to his big brother's words, knowing that his small family of friends would always be around for him, and help out in any way they could. Sonic, Mina and Zooey were very important people in his young life, and of course his other friends, Amy, Knuckles, Sticks and Perci were very important people in his life, too.

"Thanks guys," smiled Tails, "You have no idea how happy you guys make me feel, especially at Christmas."

"Well, you know what they say, Tails," said Mina, giggling before clearing her throat and saying in a sweet singsong voice, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

"Ooh, you have a really nice singing voice, Mina," complimented Zooey, giggling, "I can see why you're such a big celebrity in our town."

"Hehe, thank you, Zooey," replied Mina, blushing with a giggle.

Tails and Sonic could both see that Zooey and Mina got along really well together as close friends, and they were both really lucky to have such perfect girlfriends in their lives. Glancing to each other, they both gave a smile and thumbs up, and went back to helping with the decorations.

The group were just halfway through decorating the workshop and the Christmas tree, where Sonic and Mina were just putting red and white candy canes on the branches, Tails using his twin tails to hover around and hang up bits of tinsel around the corners of the living room, and Zooey was putting Christmas lights around the tree itself.

"I wonder what we'll each get for Christmas this year, guys?" Mina questioned curiously, "I'm really hoping for a new guitar, because my old one is getting really worn out by now, after playing it for years in my songs."

"You really like to rock it out with your songs to the people of our town, don't ya, Mina?" Sonic asked, chuckling.

"You bet I love to rock it out, sugar plum," Mina replied, winking with a sweet smile, "Ever since 'Racing Hearts' became my number one hit single, I have been making the best kind of music and songs for you guys, and for the people of Hedgehog Village. And I couldn't have made all of those wonderful songs without the help and support of you guys. You three, and the other guys like Amy, Perci, Sticks and Knuckles mean so much to me in my life, and I couldn't ask for any better friends than you guys."

Hearing those sweet, loving and grateful words from Mina Mongoose was just enough for Sonic, Tails and Zooey to stop what they were doing, and smile lovingly at their favorite singer. They found her to be so sweet and so caring, and they were of course really grateful to have her and her music in their lives.

"Aww, Mina!" said Zooey, clasping her hands together, "That is so very sweet of you to say!"

"I think this calls for a really nice group hug together as a family!" Tails suggested, giggling like a little kid, before running over to Mina.

Mina just laughed happily, as she opened her arms out and accepted Tails into a big and loving hug, squeezing him tightly and lovingly like if she was his big sister. They both shared a smile and a happy laugh together as they hugged, their hearts beating with endless family love.

Both Sonic and Zooey nearly awed at the sight of the two friends hugging, and they joined in the hug, which Mina and Tails enthusiastically accepted. Together, the four close friends, who were literally like a family of four, all hugged each other tightly and lovingly, sharing one of their warm family moments together.

"Aww, you guys are so sweet and caring to me," said Mina, a tear of happiness slipping down her cheek, "I love you all."

"And we all love you, too, Mina Mongoose," said Sonic, who then kissed his girlfriend on the cheek lovingly.

"We are pleased to have you here in our town, Mina," Tails added, smiling with happy, sparkly eyes.

"Keep up the great work on your music and those wonderful songs, Mina," Zooey added, "You're a special person to us, and we wouldn't want you to change that at all."

Mina Mongoose just smiled and blushed happily in response to her friends and their sweet compliments. They really cared for her, and she was very grateful for that, too. The group broke off their family hug, and went back to decorating the rest of the workshop living room.

While Tails and Zooey got to putting on some more decorations onto the Christmas tree, Mina glanced over to Sonic, who was looking around in a cardboard box for a reef to hang up somewhere in the room. The mongoose girl giggled and walked behind Sonic, wrapping her arms behind him, and she started to sing the lyrics to a familiar song into his ear gently.

# "My heart beats only for you, I have the feeling that together, We won't feel blue. I feel love for you and I, And that together, We will be fine." #

Sonic smiled happily at hearing Mina's sweet singing voice, especially since he could hear her singing the part of 'Racing Hearts' into his ear. It made him chuckle in happiness and appreciation that Mina was such a talented person, and there was no other person who could sing better than Mina herself.

The family of four then carried out with their decorating business, all of them having a very festive and happy time together, especially since Christmas was just around the corner.

* * *

Outside in the heavy snow, while most of the townspeople were either struggling through the snow, or just staying indoors to keep themselves warm and safe, four villagers were walking together through the snow in a small group, fighting against the winter winds, and trudging through the thick snow, wearing winter clothing.

Amy, Sticks, Knuckles and Perci were walking together through the snow, trying to keep themselves warm from this harsh weather, despite wearing winter clothing. Perci, on the other hand, was wearing Knuckles' winter jacket, as she had forgotten to put her coat on, and the echidna was kind enough to let her wear it, even though she at first insisted that he needed it, though Knuckles insisted that she should keep warm.

Amy shivered, as she and the rest of the small group walked through the harsh cold winter snow storm in Hedgehog Village.

"No one said anything about cold," Knuckles murmured to himself.

"I'm sure there must be a good reason for our suffering," retorted Sticks sarcastically.

"Guys, snow is just snow," sighed Amy, "Just because it's slowing us down doesn't mean we'll never find a warm place ... like Tails' house."

"Oh, does he have air conditioning?" asked Knuckles.

"Knuckles, I think you're thinking about heating," corrected Perci.

"I hope he doesn't have a heater that will explode in our faces," said Sticks.

"Tails would never build anything like that, Sticks," said Amy, "Besides, I'm not sure if he even builds his own heaters. He probably got his from the home improvement store."

"Home improvement store? Maybe I should visit there sometime," pondered Knuckles.

"I suppose so," Perci murmured, "Seeing as your home apparently needs a lot of improvement."

"Gee, you're right," said Knuckles, and Amy and Sticks rolled their eyes and sighed in annoyance at the echidna's stupidity.

Before long, the four found a relieving sight ahead of them; that of Tails' house and workshop, and the sight of some yellow glows from the windows, which in the wintertime typically meant the sight of a warm house. The workshop next to the house had dark-looking windows, which hinted that it was not in use today.

"Well, let's see how Tails is keeping himself warm on this cold winter's day," said Amy thoughtfully as she led her three friends to the front door.

The four stopped in front of the door, all shivering cold despite wearing heavy coats, and Amy gently knocked on the door three times. They hoped it wouldn't take long before someone noticed them standing outside, and within a few seconds, the door's curtains moved, and there were Tails' eyes peeking through the window before a smile adorably lit up on his face before he slightly opened the door.

"Hi, guys!" he greeted, "Need some winter warmth?"

Amy chuckled at this, as Perci replied, "As a matter of fact, we do, Tails. May we come in, please?"

"By all means, come on in," said Tails, and he pulled the door open to allow his friends in.

As Amy, Knuckles, Sticks and Perci stepped inside the toasty warm house, they were surprised to see the living room decorated with festive lights and reefs. The room looked just like a snowy forest, and the lights illuminated the whole room in many beautiful colors. The four were especially surprised to see Sonic, Mina and Zooey all present as well.

Tails closed the door behind himself so that none of the snow could try and get indoors into the toasty warm house. Apart from the young two-tailed fox, Zooey was the first one to notice the four, and she smiled brightly.

"Look who's here for a little winter get-together!" commented Zooey.

"Hi, Zooey!" Amy said happily to her good friend.

"We weren't expecting you or Mina to be here, today," Perci added, chuckling.

"Oh, we're here helping Tails decorate for Christmas," Mina spoke up, giggling, "We're almost finished as a matter of fact, but it took us nearly an hour to finish the whole living room."

"An hour?" Knuckles asked, "It takes that long to decorate a house?"

"Well, I suppose it all depends on how long one person takes to get everything ready in time, Knuckles," Perci pointed out.

Knuckles turned to look at Perci, who he secretly had a bit of a crush on, and stared at her for a little while. After looking at her for a few silent seconds, the echidna just nodded in understanding.

Sticks looked around the whole room, and she had to admit that the Christmas decorations looked very festive and colorful, but when she turned her head towards a corner of the workshop, she saw something hanging above it that almost made her recoil in disgust.

Hanging above the corner was a mistletoe, which had green leaves, red dots on it and a touch of fake snow on the leaves. Seeing this decoration made Sticks go into almost instant paranoia mode.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, staring at the festive plant.

"What's wrong, Sticks?" asked Mina.

"It's the mistletoe that plays tricks on people!" answered Sticks, "That is the curse of the gremlins!"

"Aw, Sticks, don't tell us that you hate mistletoes?" Zooey questioned.

"I'll tell you just why I hate this holiday tradition!" exclaimed Sticks...

* * *

 _Last Christmas, before Sonic and Mina even got together, Sticks had gotten an unfortunate moment in her life, when she got caught underneath a mistletoe and got kissed by Amy by mistake._

 _During Tails' Christmas party last year, Amy was actually trying to get Sonic to kiss her under the mistletoe for Christmas, but of course, Sonic had gotten nervous and he was not that too enthusiastic about the whole ordeal. During the scenario, Sticks was in the background near the scene getting a glass of water from the kitchen._

 _When Amy closed her eyes and waited for Sonic to kiss her, Knuckles had somehow managed to knock over a lamp in the living room, which smashed and caused a short circuit, plunging the house in darkness. When Tails managed to switch on the backup generator, he and the rest of the gang saw a sight that made them almost fall on the floor laughing._

 _Amy was seen not kissing Sonic, because he had somehow managed to get away from the mistletoe, but instead, Amy ended up kissing Sticks under it, much to her horror. When Amy realized this not-so-nice surprise, she and her best friend immediately broke away and screamed, which made Sonic, Tails and Knuckles laugh like crazy, because while they tried not to laugh, they just couldn't help themselves._

 _Thankfully though, the boys didn't take pictures, because they didn't like to make fun of their friends, and they made a promise to not tell anyone about the incident, with Tails and Sonic of course having to give Knuckles the message straight so that he would understand them._

* * *

Sticks turned to Zooey and gave her a bit of a small glare, which signified that she indeed hated mistletoes at Christmas.

"Of course I hate them!" she exclaimed, "The gremlins made me kiss Amy under it last year!"

Ever since last year, Sticks had been claiming that these 'gremlins' had been the ones who made her kiss Amy by accident last Christmas, and she hadn't shut up about them since then. Hearing the word just made Sonic, Tails and Amy sigh in annoyance, as they found that Sticks' apparent gremlins were not real.

"Just what exactly are gremlins, Sticks?" asked an unamused Tails.

"What do you mean, what are gremlins?!" retorted Sticks, "Haven't you ever seen them?! These gremlins are little green men who play tricks! They could be anywhere in this town, or even in this building, which was where they were last year, as a matter of fact!"

Mina glanced over to Sonic, feeling a bit confused by what Sticks was rambling on about, finding her words to be very hard to understand. Sonic glanced to his girlfriend, shrugged and sighed to himself, placing a hand on his face and shaking his head. Sonic and his team had to go through this paranoia thing with Sticks all the time.

There was just no end to it, even if you had to stand up to this crazy girl and tell her straight once and for all.

"Sticks, don't you think you've been drinking too much sherry lately?" asked Mina innocently, feeling concerned for the badger.

"Gremlins don't exist, Sticks," added Sonic, "They're just an excuse when things go wrong, and no one knows why."

Sticks glanced at the blue hedgehog and the mongoose girl with a bit of a small glare on her. Every time someone didn't believe in her, or her bizarre theories and curse tales, it always made her think otherwise and go by what she thinks is true, whether anyone believed her or not.

"Hey, if I say there are gremlins at Christmas, there are!" she insisted, "Just because you think they don't exist, doesn't mean they could steal your shoes from beneath your feet!"

Sonic just sighed in irritation of having to hear Sticks' ridiculous comments, and this made him tense up, clenching his fists and start growling quietly, until he felt Mina gently wrap her hands around him and hugged him from behind in an attempt to calm him down and let the subject go.

"Don't let it get to you, sugar plum," Mina said softly, "Just let it go, and don't think about it. Okay?"

Hearing the gentle and loving words from the mongoose he loved with all of his heart made Sonic take a deep breath and calm his nerves, eventually forgetting all about his slight annoyance with Sticks. He placed his hands on Mina's, squeezing them gently in his hands, before he felt her kissing him gently on the cheek.

"Okay, just for you, sweetheart," he said, smiling lovingly at his girlfriend, "Thank you, Mina."

"You're welcome, Sonic," Mina replied, grinning at him with a wink.

Tails and Zooey observed the nice moment between Sonic and Mina, and they just smiled together, before Tails leaned into Zooey and gently laid his head on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her to cuddle the girl he loved so much. Zooey saw this, and she just happily accepted the gesture, and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, before giving him a gentle kiss to the forehead, which made Tails giggle a bit.

"I love you, Zooey," Tails sighed happily, shutting his eyes briefly.

"I love you too, Tailsy," Zooey responded, before gently nuzzling her head on his happily.

Amy and Perci saw these two happy couples embrace together with their love for each other, and they just smiled together, finding the sight to be absolutely heart warming and very sweet. They were certainly a family of four, and nothing could break the strong bond they all had together.

"Aww," said Amy, clasping her hands together, "They are all so perfect together."

"Such a nice sight to see near Christmas," added Perci, chuckling, "I think they deserve each other in their lives."

Amy could only nod in agreement in silence, as Tails and Zooey eventually ended their sweet moment together and pulled away from each other, though they kept their romantic gazes on each other, smiling with Christmas joy filled in their hearts.

Mina then moved away from Sonic and went to continue putting up the last bits of the Christmas decorations up around the house. Sonic looked at Mina, and just sighed dreamily at her. He had the best girlfriend in the world, with a singing voice that sounded so angelic and mesmerizing, and there was no other girl that he would ever think of dating than just the mongoose in the room.

Perci looked around briefly before spotting the mistletoe in the corner of the room. She looked at it, and then she glanced at Knuckles, before a smirk took over her face.

"Well, I think I know someone who's never had the experience of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas," smirked Perci.

Hearing those words from the bandicoot, Sonic immediately looked away, as did Amy and Sticks, but soon everyone realized that Perci was glancing at Knuckles. It didn't take long for the echidna to realize that everyone the room was actually looking at him.

"What is everyone looking at me for?" Knuckles asked, cluelessly.

"I was thinking you'd like to share a little holiday tradition with me," said Perci.

"I ... don't know what you mean," shrugged Knuckles, as Tails and Zooey held back some laughs.

Rolling her eyes with amusement, Perci simply decided to help Knuckles understand what she was talking about to him. Gently, she took his hand in hers and held it, which of course made Knuckles blush a bit red on his face.

"Would you like to kiss me under the mistletoe on this beautiful winter's day, Knuckles?" offered Perci, smiling kindly to the echidna.

Knuckles just stared at Perci, as if he had just been smacked in the head. Everyone was looking at him, many of them trying not to burst into laughter.

Before the echidna could even comprehend what to say, Perci, with her hand still in his, gently brought him under the mistletoe in the corner of the room. Everyone was watching with interest, except for an unamused Sticks, who didn't dare look at the scene in case the 'gremlins' played their tricks again.

"I ... I don't understand," said Knuckles nervously, "I'm ... not ... really ... attached to anyone, ... well, except for my rock collection."

"Now, Knuckles, it's just a part of holiday tradition," replied Perci, giggling, "In my opinion, everyone should get a kiss under the mistletoe during the holiday season."

"B-But...," Knuckles stuttered in shock ...

... before Perci suddenly pulled him closer by the cheeks and kissed him as if she was doing it passionately.

The entire group, except Sticks, were smiling with joy as they witnessed the echidna's first holiday kiss. They felt happy that Knuckles could finally experience one of their many holiday traditions, even though he wasn't emotionally attached to anyone.

After a few seconds, Perci broke off their kiss, smiling at her friend, and Knuckles simply stood there, frozen in place, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"Merry Christmas, Knuckles," Perci said, gently smoothing her hand across his cheek.

"Well, Knuckles, how did that feel?" asked Tails cheekily.

The echidna didn't answer. He stood where he was as Sonic, Tails, Mina, Zooey and Amy burst into laughter, unable to prevent themselves from not having a laugh together. Knuckles could only blush almost as bright as his red fur, before he felt a bit limp and fell backwards onto the floor with a loud thud.

Perci gasped a bit in shock, as did the others, before the bandicoot quickly got down on her knees to check on the echidna, who had just passed out from his first Christmas kiss with the girl he secretly had a crush on.

"Knuckles? Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I told you that the gremlins were up to no good!" said Sticks, although no one was listening to her, "They've caused Knuckles to faint under their mistletoe of death!"

Ignoring Sticks' already annoying comments, Sonic dashed over to Perci, and looked down at the passed out echidna with concern. Even if he found the moment funny a minute ago, his concern for his friends was always put ahead of his jokes.

"Oh boy, looks like your kiss really got him good, Perci," chuckled Sonic.

"I just hope he's going to be alright, Sonic," Perci replied, blushing a bit, "He did just take a bit of a fall backwards."

"He'll be fine, Perci," reassured Sonic, "I think he just needs a rest is all, especially in this cold weather. Let's get him up on the couch, and we'll let him recover for a while."

Nodding, Perci gently took hold of Knuckles' head and lifted it carefully, while Sonic took the echidna by the legs, and together the hedgehog and bandicoot carried Knuckles over to one of Tails' couches, and gently placed him down on the comfy piece of furniture.

Amy walked over to see Knuckles, and once she saw him, she immediately knew that he didn't look comfortable from lying in a piece of furniture, even if the couch was comfy when being sat upon.

"He doesn't look very comfortable, guys," Amy said, "Isn't there anything we could give him to make him feel better?"

"Hmm," Sonic thought, before clicking his fingers, turning to see Mina on the other side of the room, "Mina, could you get a pillow and a blanket for Knuckles, please?"

"Of course, Sonic!" said Mina said before dashing off to go and find said items.

A minute later, she returned with a comfy pillow and a cozy blanket in hand. Smiling at his beautiful girlfriend, Sonic gently took the blanket and pillow from Mina, and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek as a thank you.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Sonic said, winking.

"You're welcome, sugar plum," Mina replied, giggling with a blush.

Amy and Perci carefully lifted up Knuckles' head, before Sonic placed the pillow beneath the echidna's head. The girls then gently laid it back down on the pillow. Sonic then proceeded to carefully lay the blanket over Knuckles' body, making sure his body was warm and cozy beneath the blanket.

"Alright, he should be fine within the next couple of hours," said Sonic, "We'll leave him here until he wakes up."

"Let's hope the gremlins don't cause anymore problems for him, either," added Sticks, although no one heard her.

"Well, we'd better finish up the decorating, guys," said Tails, "Then, I'll make all of us some nice hot chocolate to drink to keep us warm from this cold weather. How does that sound to you guys?"

"Wonderful, Tails," answered Zooey, giving the fox a cuddle, which made him blush and giggle.

"I could go for some hot chocolate right now," added Perci.

"Same here," Sonic spoke up, "Let's just get everything finished up in here, and then we'll all relax together for the rest of the day."

Agreeing to the blue hedgehog's words, everyone in the room, apart from the passed out Knuckles and the gremlin obsessed Sticks, got back to work on finishing up with the Christmas decorations in Tails' humble home.

During the last of the decorating, Mina Mongoose took the opportunity to sing a couple of Christmas tunes to her friends, and the sound of her beautiful singing voice would forever be mesmerizing, especially with having her boyfriend Sonic around, and her close friends Tails and Zooey, who she would always treat as younger siblings, with the love and care she had for them.

* * *

 _ **Well, that will wrap up our second episode of "Family of Four." We hope you're having a good time with holiday preparations, and we'll see you next time with episode 3!**_


	3. Christmas Eve

**_CHRISTMAS EVE_**

* * *

It was December 24th, Christmas Eve, and everything was very silent and peaceful, with Bygone Island covered with an almost thick blanket of snow, while a big shiny moon was high up in the clear night sky, shining down on the island and giving an eerie glow, almost giving it a different feel to it.

Hedgehog Village was covered in snow, and very little of the townspeople were outside tonight, since it was very cold and most of them would rather stay indoors in their toasty warm homes.

However, you could find one or two people walking around in the snow-covered town, having a night time stroll around the village, before eventually turning into bed for the night. No more snow was falling, but that didn't mean that there could possibly be more on the way overnight. You just could not predict what the weather was going to do to you next.

Tomorrow was Christmas Day, and everyone in Hedgehog Village was already fast asleep in their homes, getting plenty of sleep in preparation for the busy day ahead of them. Everyone knew that Christmas was a very exciting and festive day, which only came once a year, and 365 days was an awfully long time to wait for the next Christmas Day.

While most of Hedgehog Village and its residents were fast asleep, over in Tails' house/workshop complex, the family of four were still awake and making the final preparations for their Christmas Party the next day. In the kitchen, Zooey was baking some chocolate chip cookies in the oven, humming a Christmas tune to herself quietly as she baked the cookies.

"These cookies are going to taste delicious," Zooey said to herself as she put on some oven gloves over her hands, "Even at Christmas, it's always a tradition to bake fresh chocolate chip cookies around this time of the year. Hehe, I think Tails, Sonic and Mina are gonna love these cookies."

Continuing to hum happily to herself, Zooey switched off the oven and opened the door before carefully reaching in and grabbing the tray of freshly baked cookies. The smell of these delicious biscuits instantly filled the kitchen, and the smell made Zooey giggle. Chocolate chip cookies were always a welcoming sight to see on the kitchen table, and they had a much better smell than those greasy and disgusting Meh Burgers.

While Zooey cheerfully placed the cookies on top of the stove to cool off, she went off outside and into the separate workshop building to see how Tails, Mina and Sonic were doing in the basement.

In the basement was where Tails had built his massive model railway, which had a lot of detail and space for the model trains that he collected and ran on the set. The fox was enjoying himself at the table of his massive and perfectly detailed model train set, running some of the trains on the layout, while Mina Mongoose was quietly strumming some calming music on her old guitar, and Sonic the Hedgehog was just lying on a makeshift hammock which was just away from a work table that Tails used to work on his model trains with.

"So, what would you guys like for Christmas?" asked Sonic after a bit of silence.

"Well, I'd certainly be interested in a new toolbox since I keep collecting so many tools, and maybe another train to add to this luxurious set," said Tails, just as one of the miniature steam locomotives on his train set chuffed on a track behind him with a whistle, along with four gorgeous British Pullman coaches trailing behind its tender.

"I think I'd like a new guitar, since this one's seen better days," sighed Mina, and she strummed some calming music on her guitar, although the strings sure sounded like as she had described.

"Hmm, nice tune, except it didn't sound quite as nice as we'd like it with those old strings," commented Sonic, "A new guitar would definitely do the job."

"I've loved this guitar for many years, ... but ... I guess everything has to change at some point," said Mina as she put her guitar down.

"How about you, bro?" Tails asked Sonic.

"Hmm," said Sonic, looking up at the ceiling, then he looked down at his shoes, "How about a new pair of running shoes with a nice, fresh design on them?"

"Seriously, Sonic?" Mina asked, surprised, "I thought you loved those shoes?"

"I do, but not as much as I love you, guys," Sonic replied, smiling, "And I always wanted to refresh and try a new style. I think we all need to do that in life."

"Gee, you're right," agreed Tails.

"I think that no matter what we get for Christmas, we'll always have each other," smiled Mina, "After all, Christmas is all about family."

"You have a point," said Sonic, "And even our close friends in Team Sonic count as family, because Tails and I have known them for a long time."

"We sure have," Tails sighed, smiling.

"How's about a group hug?" offered Mina before saying with a sweet voice, "A Christmas group hug?"

Tails chuckled excitedly as Mina stood up and walked over to the young fox, scooped him up into a hug, and Sonic was quick to join in with the two. The three hugged each other for what seemed like hours as they shared their family love for each other.

"Merry Christmas, you guys," said Mina happily.

"Merry Christmas to you, too, Mina," Sonic and Tails said together.

The three family members were then interrupted by the sound of the basement door opening up, and no sooner did they end their group hug and turn to see the door opening, they saw a bright person that they always welcomed with warm smiles.

Zooey came into the basement and walked down the steps, smiling brightly to her close family members.

"Hey, guys," she said sweetly, "What are you guys talking about down here?"

"We've just been talking about what we are hoping to get for Christmas," answered Mina, giggling as she walked back over to her old guitar, "And we have all got wonderful ideas that we'd love to get for Christmas Day tomorrow."

Zooey nodded with a smile to the mongoose, as she looked at the three people who she called her family. She was so lucky to be with people who cared and loved her, especially since she had a strong relationship with her boyfriend and the love of her life, Tails.

While Mina began humming a tune to herself as she started strumming on her old guitar again, despite the bad string sounds it made, Zooey looked around the basement and saw that Sonic had returned to his hammock and started looking at his old running shoes again.

For a blue hedgehog who always leapt into action and fought against Eggman's robots, Sonic seemed to have a care for his running shoes, always checking them to make sure that no spec of dust or splatter of mud were left on the soles.

"What do you hope to get for Christmas, Sonic?" Zooey asked curiously.

"Well, that's easy," said Sonic, smirking and pointing to his shoes, "A new pair of running shoes. These ones are getting kinda old and worn out. A new pair with a different design would be nice to have for Christmas."

"That sounds nice, Sonic," replied Zooey with a smile, "I'm sure you'd be the talk of the town wearing a pair of brand new shoes."

"Probably, yeah," agreed Sonic, "Though, I doubt anyone in that town would take any interest in my new style of fashion."

Zooey nodded in response, although Mina could be heard chuckling from Sonic's comment, and this made Zooey roll her eyes playfully. The sweet vixen then looked around and spotted Tails nearby, having just gone back to running the trains on his model railway layout. Smiling, Zooey began walking over to see what her boyfriend was up to with his model railway.

"What about you, my sweetie?" Zooey asked to her boyfriend, as she walked over to him, "What would you like for Christmas Day tomorrow?"

Hearing Zooey's sweet voice, Tails smiled while bringing the model passenger train into the station to stop for the evening. Once he did that and switched off the set and its power, he turned around to see Zooey approaching him and eventually wrapping her arms around him in a loving hug, which he was soon quick to return to her.

"I'd like to possibly get a new toolbox for my tools, or maybe even a new train for my model railway, Zooey," he said, smiling at his girlfriend, "Either one will make me happy, no matter which one it is."

"Aww," said Zooey, "That's very nice, Tails. Just remember it's all about family and friends, just as well as giving and receiving."

"Hehe, I know, sweetie pie," replied Tails.

The two young foxes smiled lovingly at one another, feeling the Christmas spirit still within their hearts. They were just about to lean in for a quick kiss together, but they were soon interrupted by the sound of somebody yawning in the basement.

Pulling away and letting each other go, Tails and Zooey looked around the room, before turning to Mina.

"Did you just yawn, Mina?" asked Tails.

"No, it wasn't me, guys," replied Mina, "But I think I know who it was."

Getting up from her spot and slinging her old guitar around her back, Mina walked her two close friends over to where Sonic was in his hammock, and when they all saw him, Sonic was just letting out another yawn, indicating that he was getting tired, which was actually quite very rare for him if not counting the time that Eggman kept him and Tails awake all night as part of his evil plan to destroy them and their friends.

"Ooh, somebody's tired," giggled Mina cheekily, "What's wrong, sugar plum? Can't sleep in that old hammock?"

Sonic turned to face his girlfriend and let out a tired but amusing chuckle at the mongoose girl he loved so dearly. He then got up out of the old makeshift hammock, stood up on his feet once more, and looked up at his small family.

"Yeah, I'm actually kinda tired to be honest, guys," he said, rubbing his eyes with his hands, "I suppose we'd better get to bed now, guys. We have a big and long day tomorrow, and we need the energy to get through it all."

"Indeed," agreed Tails, "And our friends in the team are coming over tomorrow to join us in opening the Christmas presents under the tree."

"I've actually got something in the kitchen waiting for us, guys," Zooey spoke up, "I'd like for us to quickly spend a few minutes in the kitchen together, before we go to bed."

"Well, in that case, let's get going!" said Mina, feeling excited for tomorrow.

Before Sonic could even have time to walk and lead the way up the basement stairs, Mina managed to surprise her boyfriend, by grabbing and scooping him up, carrying the blue hedgehog in her arms, much to Sonic's surprise and rather rare embarrassment, making him blush deeply.

"M-Mina!" he exclaimed, blushing and stuttering, "W-What are you doing?!"

"Just giving my tired sugar plum a hand upstairs!" replied Mina, winking and blushing a bit herself, before taking off at speed up the stairs, her trademark purple aura flowing behind her.

Tails and Zooey watched them disappear and then looked at each other, before letting out a laugh together. They found Sonic being the 'damsel in distress' to be very funny, and it was just lucky that none of their friends would see Sonic being carried by Mina.

He would certainly be very embarrassed if the rest of the gang saw him like this. He would probably never be able to live that one down.

"I'll check on the train set tomorrow morning before our friends come in for Christmas Day," said Tails, looking back at his huge layout one last time.

"You'd better wake up early if you wanna do that, sweetie," giggled Zooey, "Let's go now."

Nodding, Tails placed his hand into Zooey's, and the two young foxes walked up the stairs together, turning off the basement and workshop lights, before shutting and locking the door to the workshop.

Once they walked through the snow and entered the main house of Tails' humble residence, Sonic and Mina were already there. The blue hedgehog was still blushing deeply from his girlfriend carrying him up the basement stairs, and was now standing on his own two feet again.

"You look as red as one of the decorations on the Christmas tree, sugar plum," commented Mina, laughing at her boyfriend's red face.

Sonic didn't say anything and tried to cover up his blush with his brown neck chief, although doing that didn't really help him, since it didn't really cover his whole blushing muzzle.

As Tails closed the front door and locked it to keep the cold winter weather from entering his home, Zooey walked over to the chocolate chip cookies, which had by now cooled down.

"So, who'd like some Christmas cookies before we head for bed?" offered Zooey, "Made by yours truly, and they have not just long cooled down from the oven."

When the word 'cookies' was mentioned, Tails immediately felt his childlike excitement taking over his mind, and he ran to Zooey and saw the cookies sitting on the tray on top of his kitchen oven.

"Oh boy, yes please!" the fox exclaimed excitedly.

Zooey smiled brightly at her boyfriend, while Sonic and Mina chuckled together at Tails' childlike personality, while the hedgehog and mongoose nuzzled each other gently while holding hands together.

Grabbing the tray from the oven top, Zooey showed Tails the cookies on it, and gestured a hand to him that he could take one. Grinning, Tails immediately took a cookie and took a bite from it, and within a few seconds of that first bite, the chocolatey taste instantly hit his taste buds and began soothing his tongue.

"Wow! This is so good, Zooey!" Tails commented, tasting the chocolate within the cookie, "Mmm! I can just taste that sweet, soothing chocolate chip in this cookie already!"

Sonic, Mina and Zooey all laughed heartily at Tails' childish behavior, finding him to be as cute and adorable as always, before they each took a cookie from the tray and took bites from them. They both had such delightful tastes from the cookies Zooey made that almost instantly hit their taste buds.

"Mmm, these are so good, Zooey," complimented Mina, swallowing the cookie and giving a thumbs up.

"Thanks, Mina!" replied Zooey happily, "Nothing but the best!"

"The taste of these is just so fascinating," commented Sonic, swallowing his cookie down, "And if I have to admit, these cookies taste more sweeter than chili dogs."

"Thanks," giggled Zooey, "You should always lay off the chili for a while, Sonic."

The vixen then took a cookie for herself and set the plate down on the dining table, and soon all four of them had their share of the delicious cookie taste.

"Mmm, that was delicious," said Tails, licking his lips happily.

"You can say that again, Tails," chuckled Mina, "Chocolate chip cookies have so much better flavor and taste than those greasy meh burgers."

"Well, I guess it's time for bed," said Sonic, stretching his arms as he made his way to the couch.

"Would you like me to sleep with you, sugar plum?" offered Mina, fluttering her eye lashes at him.

"You know I'd love nothing more than that, sweetheart," answered Sonic with a smile, before the two held hands and walked over to the couch.

"Would you like me to sleep with you tonight, Tails?" Zooey asked her boyfriend.

"I'd love that, Zooey," smiled Tails.

While Tails led Zooey towards the makeshift bed that was in the corner of the living room, Sonic and Mina lied down on the couch together. A big enough blanket and pillow awaited on the couch for them to share.

Sonic and Mina smiled at each other before they laid down and immediately cuddled up close together, feeling their love for each other continuing to warm their hearts and souls. Mina pulled the blanket over themselves, while Sonic made himself comfortable on the couch. The hedgehog and mongoose both leaned in and shared one last kiss together, before pulling apart and wrapping their arms around each other, with Mina laying her head gently on Sonic's chest.

"Mmm, I love you, Sonic the Hedgehog," said Mina dreamily as she began to feel sleepy.

"I love you too, Mina Mongoose," Sonic responded, gently kissing Mina on the forehead before sleepily saying, "Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

"Same to you, sugar plum," Mina responded back, smiling sleepily.

With those last words, Sonic and Mina both fell asleep together, cuddled up together in the blanket, and hardly made a sound as they fell into a sweet, uninterrupted slumber.

Tails and Zooey reached the makeshift bed in the corner of the house, where Tails had a blanket and pillow ready for him and his girlfriend to share together for the night.

"I can't wait for Christmas," sighed Tails dreamily.

"Me neither, sweetie," whispered Zooey, "I love you, my festive fox."

Tails chuckled quietly and replied, "I love you, too, my sweet one."

Zooey kissed Tails on the forehead as she covered them up to their necks in his blankets.

"Goodnight, Tails," she spoke softly to him.

"Goodnight, Zooey," Tails replied as he yawned and closed his eyes.

With that, the two lovers fell into a deep sleep, cuddling each other as they entered a festive dreamland together.

Tomorrow was December 25th, Christmas Day, and as snow started to once again to fall silently outside in the cold winter village of Hedgehog Village, it was surely going to be a fun, fantastic and festive family day for Sonic, Tails, Mina and Zooey.

But just what kinds of surprises would there be for our little family of four tomorrow morning?


	4. Christmas Day

_**Festive Greetings and Merry Christmas!**_

 _ **Today is the most festive day of the year, and we bring you a very special episode in our 'Family of Four' series to help commemorate this special day that comes around only once a year! ^^**_

 _ **The family of four begin their Christmas morning with Tails checking in the train set in the workshop basement, before Sonic gives him an early Christmas present that really surprises him. After having breakfast, Sonic, Tails, Mina and Zooey get ready to start off their Christmas get together with Amy, Knuckles and Sticks soon joining the festive fun with them. But, what happens when a familiar enemy comes knocking on the door at Christmas?**_

 _ **We hope you will enjoy this special Christmas episode in Family of Four!**_

 _ **Merry Christmas, everybody, and have a happy new year!**_

* * *

 _ **CHRISTMAS DAY**_

* * *

As the sun rose over Bygone Island, hidden behind clouds filled with snow, the island was coated with snow as the residents woke up that morning feeling so cheerful and festive. They cherished in the bright reality that Christmas had arrived, and the children throughout the village ran towards their Christmas trees and started digging into their presents.

At Tails' house and workshop, Sonic, Tails, Mina and Zooey were all still fast asleep inside the living room, with Sonic and Mina still close together under their shared blanket on the couch, while Tails and Zooey slept peacefully on the makeshift bed. Since last night, the family of four had been getting plenty of rest, so that they could all be ready to wake up on Christmas morning, and get ready for the festive day ahead of them, and also prepare themselves for the greatest day of the year, when their friends would come over to share the holidays with them.

As the snow continued to fall with snowflakes gently fluttering down to the already snow-covered ground, one of the four family members were starting to wake up on this cold but festive morning.

While Sonic and Mina were still fast asleep and snuggling together on the couch, both of them breathing silently and sharing their blanket together, on the makeshift bed, Tails was starting to open his eyes a bit, while his sweetheart Zooey continued to sleep peacefully next to him. Yawning quietly, Tails blinked a few times and eventually rubbed his eyes to get the tiredness out of them.

"Christmas morning, already?" he asked quietly to himself, "Last night went faster than I thought. Oh, well. I'd better get an early start before we get things ready."

Tails looked to his left and saw that Zooey had her arm around him, since the two of them were snuggling together last night. Smiling, and being as gentle as he could, Tails lifted Zooey's arm off his shoulder and carefully placed it down on the makeshift bed, without trying to disturb his beautiful girlfriend.

Checking over the vixen he loved so much once more, Tails began to sit up on the makeshift bed and stand up to walk away, but as he started to walk, he felt someone grabbing his hand gently, making him turn around.

"Huh?" he said, feeling a bit worried.

Luckily, his worry soon melted away in relief, as he saw that it was only Zooey slowly opening her eyes and looking up at her boyfriend, looking tired but happy to see him. Smiling back, Tails knelt down to look at the sleepy vixen.

"Merry Christmas, Zooey," he spoke quietly to his girlfriend.

"Same to you, sweetie," replied Zooey, yawing cutely before asking, "What are you doing up early?"

"I'm going to check on my train set in the workshop basement," said Tails, "Remember when I said that to you last night?"

"Oh yes, you did say ... something about that, yesterday," said Zooey, yawing in the middle of her sentence, "Just be careful, okay? It's very cold outside."

"I'll be careful. Don't worry, sweetie," promised Tails, gently rubbing his hand on Zooey's cheek, "You just get some more shut eye, okay? Sonic and I will wake you and Mina up when the time comes."

Nodding, Zooey felt Tails rub her cheek gently with his hand, making her smile tiredly but lovingly at her boyfriend, before he moved his hand away from her. As the vixen began to tuck herself back into the blanket on the makeshift bed, Tails walked over to her and gently placed a set kiss on her cheek, which made her smile and blush lightly as she went back to sleep.

"Love you, Zooey," said Tails quietly as he walked away.

"Love you too, Tailsy," Zooey quietly murmured with a smile as she slept.

While Tails quietly got a jacket and walked outside into the snow to his workshop, what he didn't know was that his big brother, Sonic, had started to wake up and managed to catch a glimpse of his little brother heading outside.

Getting himself up and stretching his arms into the air, Sonic checked over his girlfriend to see if she was still asleep, and that he didn't disturb her. Thankfully, Mina was still sound asleep, and she turned herself over to keep warm within the blanket on the couch, moaning a little as she rolled over.

Smiling, Sonic planted a little kiss on Mina's cheek as his good morning gesture to her, before walking off to go and see what Tails was up to, but not before walking over to the Christmas tree nearby and picking up a wrapped Christmas present, which had yellow paper and a blue ribbon seen on it. Knowing what was inside this present, Sonic grabbed his own jacket and then walked outside to follow Tails, closing the door behind himself to give Zooey and Mina some more sleeping time.

In the workshop, Tails had walked down into his basement, and a smile crept onto his face the instant he set his eyes on his precious train set. He simply had to just look at this set, and he would bubble with childish excitement, especially on a day like this.

"I suppose I can give these precious models a quick run while I wait for Sonic, Mina and Zooey to wake up," Tails thought, grinning to himself.

Reaching for the power switch, the fox flicked the control box power on, chose a couple of the trains he wanted to run for five minutes on his train set, and pressed a green button to make them start running. The first train of the day to start moving was Tails' very special model of the LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 'Tornado', pulling its rake of British Pullman coaches behind its tender.

With a whistle coming from its sound chip installed inside the tender, 'Tornado' steamed across the set with its passenger train, passing other trains and the beautiful model scenery along the way, making Tails giggle with happiness.

Soon, the miniature trains were running smoothly on the rails, the locomotives bringing their trains to their destinations right on time as if it was a smoothly-running railway with no confusion or delay. Of course, Tails knew that, with today being Christmas, that he should anticipate another addition being added to his set. Whether it would be another building or a locomotive, he wasn't sure.

"Hey there, buddy," came an all-so-familiar voice behind him, and he turned back to find Sonic coming down the stairs, appearing to be hiding something behind his back.

Tails chuckled as he anticipated that his big brother would give him an early Christmas present just like he had done before on Christmas and on his birthday.

"Hi, Sonic," the fox smiled.

"I'm sure you know why I'm down here with my special little bro," chuckled Sonic as he sensed his brother knew what was coming.

"Uh, hehe, yeah," chuckled Tails sheepishly.

Sure enough, Sonic then brought his hands out from behind his back and revealed a wrapped present in his left hand.

"This is for you, Tails," the hedgehog spoke with a gentle grin.

"Oh, Sonic," said Tails as he slowly took the present and began tearing the wrapping paper off.

Sonic smiled as he watched his little brother excitedly ripping the paper off. He couldn't wait to see his reaction when he found out what this present was.

Slowly but surely, the paper came off with one tear after another, and Tails gasped in astonishment when he saw just what it was ...

Inside the package was a miniature three-car British Rail Class 117 Diesel Mobile Unit set. The cars were painted in British Green, and it had extraordinary detail, with lots of seats inside the three cars, and control rooms in the front and back cars.

"Wow!" exclaimed Tails, "This ... is ... I don't know what to say!"

"Merry Christmas, Tails!" chuckled Sonic.

"Oh, Sonic! You're the best brother ever!" said Tails happily, and he hugged his big brother tightly.

"I can say the same about you, little bro," replied Sonic, returning the hug around Tails' back.

"Aww, big bro," said Tails, "You really know how to make every Christmas feel so merry for me."

"Well, there's one thing that I love doing aside from hanging out with Mina, and that's making my little bro the happiest fox in the world," said Sonic, giving a thumbs up and a wink to his little brother.

Tails shed a few happy tears from his eyes, and he gently placed the 117 DMU set on one of the many tracks on his railway set.

"I'll give it a go once we've all opened our presents and had some delicious Christmas dinner later on," the fox chuckled excitedly.

Once he made sure his new 117 DMU set was safety on the rails of his layout, Tails walked over to the control box and switched off all of the trains running on the set, before turning off the power switch, leaving the basement silent and quiet once again, as the model trains stopped for the day.

After one more look at his train set, Tails turned to face Sonic again, who was looking as cheerful as always to his little brother.

"I'll be right here to watch you do it, Tails," said Sonic, "I love seeing a smile of excitement on your face whenever I can."

Tails smiled brightly at his brother, and Sonic picked him up by his sides as if he were a toddler and pulled him in for a very tight hug, pinning the fox's arms down, and also tickling his sides.

"Hey! Sohohohonihihihic!" exclaimed Tails in bubbly laughter.

"Merry Christmas, Tails!" said Sonic happily as he stopped the brief tickling and nuzzled Tails' face in brotherly fashion.

"Merry Christmas, Sonic!" replied Tails with such an adorable smile.

"Let's go wake Mina and Zooey, get some breakfast, and we can all open one or two of our presents," said Sonic, "How does that sound, bro?"

"I'd love that, bro!" giggled Tails, "I can't wait to see how Zooey and Mina react to what we've gotten them for Christmas!"

"Let's head on upstairs, little bro!" said Sonic, and he playfully carried his little brother back upstairs.

Once Sonic and Tails got out of the workshop and went back into the house, they walked into the living room and found that Zooey and Mina were still sound asleep on the couch and makeshift bed. The two brothers looked at each other and smiled at seeing their respective girlfriends still sleeping peacefully on Christmas Day. As much as they didn't want to disturb their loved ones, there was a big day ahead of them.

"How should we wake up Zooey and Mina, Sonic?" asked Tails quietly.

"Just nice and gently, bud," Sonic whispered back, "Those two are like delicate flowers, and they should be treated very nicely."

Nodding, Tails just knew how he should wake up Zooey: with a nice and sweet touch of Christmas love.

While Sonic went over to wake up Mina, the two-tailed fox quietly went over to Zooey, and carefully looked over her. The vixen looked so precious and peaceful when she was sleeping, almost like a sleeping princess. Tails smiled and gently ran a hand through Zooey's hair.

"Merry Christmas, Zooey," he whispered as he got closer to his girlfriend, "It's time to wake up now."

Tails then leaned into Zooey and planted a sweet and gentle kiss on her left cheek, then gently kissed her right cheek, and then gently placed a slightly bigger kiss on her nose before pulling away and waiting for his girlfriend to wake up.

A happy smile and blush crept on Zooey's face, before she fluttered her eyes open and saw the one person she always loved to see.

"Hi, Tails," she said, sitting up before blushing, "Did you just give me the funny kiss on Christmas morning?"

"Yep! I wanted to wake you up in a nice way for Christmas," giggled Tails.

"Aww, you're sweet!" chuckled Zooey, "Did you check on your train set afterwards, Tails?"

"Yep!" grinned Tails, "All the model trains are running very well, and Sonic even gave me an early Christmas present: a new three-car diesel mobile unit set, in green British Rail colors!"

"Aw, that was nice of him, Tailsy," said Zooey before she smiled seductively and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend, "And I've got an early Christmas present for you, too."

Knowing what his girlfriend was talking about, and getting the idea already, Tails smiled back at Zooey, before the two loving foxes closed their eyes, leaned in close together and kissed each other on the lips affectionately, sharing the love and Christmas spirit they had together.

While Tails and Zooey shared their Christmas kiss on the makeshift bed, Sonic had gone over to Mina and managed to wake up his girlfriend with ease. Of course, Mina managed to sneak a kiss from her sugar plum, and when Tails and Zooey ended their kiss, the family of four went to the kitchen to get some breakfast, and eventually got the house ready for when their friends would eventually arrive for Christmas.

* * *

For breakfast, Tails had a bowl of his favorite cereal, Cocoa Rings, with a cup of tea, while Zooey had some fresh bananas and a chunk of watermelon with some orange juice. Sonic had nothing different to eat but chili dogs, only with a glass of water, and Mina had a well-balanced breakfast of bacon and eggs with a slice of toast and some tea.

Once the breakfast was all done and over with, Mina took Tails back into his workshop basement, while Zooey and Sonic got on with clearing up the dishes.

In the basement, Mina began talking to Tails about her cute little idea that she was sure that he would really love to do.

"Okay, Mina, so what is your idea for the Christmas tree?" asked Tails curiously, "Although I'm not sure how much more we can fit under it, considering we have all of the presents sitting under it right now."

"Oh, well, Tails," Mina began with a sweet smile and a giggle, "I was thinking about maybe putting a small train set under the Christmas tree, just for this year. What do you think of that?"

Almost immediately after hearing what Mina's idea was about, Tails was grinning from ear to ear, already loving that idea of putting one of his model trains under the tree for Christmas, even if it was a last minute addition to put in.

Before Mina could ask if Tails was okay, the mongoose girl was then greeted by a big and warm welcoming hug from the two-tailed fox, which took her by surprise, but she was quick to return the hug with equal strength, smiling happily at her little family figure.

"Oh, yes please, Mina!" said Tails excitedly, "I've always wanted to put a train under the tree for Christmas! I can run my 'Tornado' under it!"

"Hehe, you sure can, little one!" said Mina, grinning happily as they hugged, before breaking off, "Come on, Tails. Get some track together, and your train to run under the tree. I'll go back into the living room and move the presents off to the side a little bit to make room."

"Okay, Mina!" giggled Tails.

Mina just smiled back in return before kissing Tails on the cheek as if she was his loving mother, before speeding off back upstairs out of the basement to clear some space in the living room. Tails giggled happily before he went to his train set to collect some track, a power controller, and some boxes to place his model train in to carry it.

* * *

Out in the snow-covered forest, in the little less than early hours of Christmas morning, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks were on their way to Tails' house, all carrying presents that they intended to give the family of four for Christmas. Of course, that didn't mean that the family of four would leave them out for Christmas, for they also had presents to give to their friends from under the tree, and they were sure they would love them.

Amy seemed to be in such a joyous mood, being the most giddy and excited person in the group, while Sticks was simply looking around for anything she deemed "suspicious." Knuckles, on the other hand, was simply following them with some blank look on his face as if he had no idea what was going on.

"Oh, I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they open their presents!" said Amy cheerfully, "This will be their best Christmas yet!"

"I just hope there won't be any government agents lurking around, trying to confiscate our gifts," said Sticks.

"In case you forgot, Sticks, there won't even be a government this Christmas," Amy pointed out.

"How do you know that?" asked Sticks suspiciously.

"I watch the news often," answered Amy.

"Christmas news?" said Knuckles, "What is there to talk about this Christmas?"

"I suppose we'll find out when we get there, Knuckles," replied Amy.

Before long, the three came to the edge of the forest, and there stood Tails' house and workshop on the coastline, with faint smoke coming out of the chimney, and yellowish-looking windows.

"Tails must be having a warm start to his Christmas," remarked Amy, "Let's go see what those guys are up to."

Back in the workshop, Tails and Mina had just finished building the small circle of track under the Christmas tree, and placed the model train that Tails had chosen from his collection, which was, of course, 60163 'Tornado', and a rake of three British Pullman carriages placed behind it.

"Ok, ready Mina?" asked Tails excitedly.

"Ready!" answered Mina, smiling as she plugged in the power controller for the track.

With one turn of the controller circle, Tails and Mina watched as 'Tornado' began running around on the small oval-shaped track around the Christmas tree, making its whistle and chuffing sounds from its sound chip built inside the tender. The lights inside the coaches lit up and shined dimly through the windows, but it was just bright enough to see them at floor level nevertheless.

Mina smiled at the train running under the Christmas tree, but when she saw the happy grin on Tails' face, she almost laughed happily at the sight of seeing Tails almost acting like a little boy with his train set under the tree.

"You happy, Tails?" smiled Mina.

"You bet I'm happy!" replied Tails enthusiastically before going to Mina and hugging her, "Thank you so much, Mina!"

"Hehe, you're welcome, little one," Mina replied, "And Merry Christmas."

Outside, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks walked through the crunching and frosty cold snow, up to the front door of the workshop house, and Amy gently knocked on it three times. Inside, as Mina went to get the present all neatly sorted out ready, Tails heard the door knocking three times, and went over to answer it with festive Christmas joy within his eyes.

Within a moment, the door opened, and Tails appeared with a smile on his face.

"Merry Christmas!" the trio greeted out loud, much to the fox's surprise.

"Wow! What a surprise!" chuckled Tails, "Merry Christmas, guys! Please, come on in! We've been expecting you guys!"

"Perci said she'd be on her way soon," informed Amy, "She shouldn't be long, so at least Perci won't miss out on the Christmas get together, this morning."

"Okay," smiled Tails, excited at the idea of receiving extra company for Christmas.

Amy, Knuckles and Sticks walked in and placed their presents down with all the other presents gathered beside Tails' Christmas tree, and they briefly glanced at 'Tornado' running around the tree on the tracks beneath it.

Mina saw the three members of Team Sonic walk into the house, and she happily waved to her friends with so much bubbly Christmas joy.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" she called, bubbling with excitement.

"Merry Christmas, Mina!" replied Amy.

She then turned to see Sonic and Zooey in the kitchen, who were almost finished washing and clearing away the breakfast dishes.

"And the same to you guys, too!" the pink hedgehog called happily.

"Merry Christmas, Amy!" Sonic and Zooey replied, briefly turning to wave at their friend.

"Ooh, it's so nice to be all together for Christmas again!" Tails laughed happily with excitement, "It was so magical last year, and hopefully this year's will be even more memorable!"

"Well, as long as no little green gremlins or government agents mind-control us into getting stuck under that mistletoe again," murmured Sticks, looking in the direction of the mistletoe in the corner of the living room.

Nobody said a word to Sticks and simply ignored the thought of gremlins and any other nonsensical stuff that she could possibly talk about on Christmas Day.

The group all gathered together into the living room, while Sonic and Zooey carried on washing the last of the breakfast dishes. Mina was humming Christmas tunes to herself happily as she looked at Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks sitting around together, awaiting for the arrival of Perci, which would eventually complete the Christmas get together group.

As the snow outside continued to fall peacefully, Sonic washed the final dish in the sink and gave it to Zooey, who quickly dried it off with a tea towel, and gently placed it on a rack of other plates in a cupboard and closed the door. Sonic drained the dirty water from the sink and wiped his gloved hands with a clean towel, before he and Zooey walked over to join Mina, Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Sticks in the living room.

"Dishes are done. All we gotta do is wait for Perci to appear!" smiled Sonic.

"Once she arrives, we will open the presents for each other," Zooey added, giggling with happiness and Christmas joy.

"Oh boy!" said Knuckles, grinning and acting like an excited eight-year-old boy, "I can't wait any longer, guys! When can we open the presents?!"

"In a minute, Knuckles," said Amy as she tried to keep the excitable echidna calm, "We just need to wait for Perci."

No sooner did Amy finish her sentence when they heard a knock on the front door. Mina dashed over to the door before Sonic even had the chance to. The mongoose girl was bubbling happily with Christmas spirit continuing to make her heart beat happily.

"I've got it, guys!" she said, "Hopefully, we can start in a few seconds!"

As Mina opened up the front door, ready to great Perci, her excitement turned into shock and fear as she saw just who it was at the door ...

"EGGMAN?!"

Hearing that name almost gave everyone a shock on Christmas morning. Sticks almost went into her frenzy paranoia mode, Tails nearly froze up in fear, though Zooey was quick to comfort him to keep him calm, and Knuckles almost screamed like a little girl, but luckily he didn't, because Amy had managed to stuff a nearby cushion on the couch into his mouth to prevent him from screaming the house down.

Sonic was immediately in serious mode, though, as his girlfriend screamed the name of his most hated enemy.

"Eggman?!" he exclaimed, immediately rushing over to Mina's side, wrapping a protective arm around her, all the while glaring at his arch nemesis, Doctor Eggman, and his robots, Orbot and Cubot.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Eggman, putting up his hands in defense, "Please don't go into a panic attack, Miss Mongoose! We don't mean to bring any harm to you today! We promise!"

"Do we?" came the voice of Cubot.

Mina almost shook in fear, and she almost buried her head into Sonic's shoulder. Thankfully, the hedgehog was always going to be there to protect her with all of his life.

"What do you want, Eggman?!" asked Sonic in a serious tone, "Come to spoil our Christmas get together and destroy us all with one of your robots?!"

Eggman's only response was calming himself down, even if he had to restrain himself from letting out any shouts of defense against his fast and blue arch enemy. Orbot and Cubot only silently watched in anticipation as the doctor began to speak calmly yet a little irritably to Sonic and Mina.

"Okay, let me just speak first, okay, guys?" Eggman requested, trying to sound polite, "Now, first of all, I have not come to ruin your silly little Christmas, and I don't have any of my robots of death and destruction with me at all. They are all locked away in my Island Fortress, keeping Morpho and Mombot company for the day."

"H-How do we know that you're not ... l-lying?" asked Mina almost fearfully.

"Do you see a giant robot standing behind me? I don't see a giant robot standing behind me!" replied Eggman, gesturing back and forth with his hands, "I promise you that there is no giant robot standing behind me, or hiding behind your house ready to pounce on you, fools."

Sonic looked at Eggman, seeing that there was indeed no giant robot anywhere around the town or hiding behind the workshop house at all. It sounded like Eggman was true to his word this time around, unlike the time he had tricked Sonic and Tails into believing his base got destroyed in a rainstorm and kept them up all night to tire them out in order to destroy them and their friends with Obliterator Bot.

Sonic and Mina stood still as they listened carefully to Eggman, as he explained his little story.

"Secondly, I was wondering if we could possibly join you all for your Christmas get together, please?" he pleaded, trying to sound as convincing as possible, "It's Christmas Day, and besides, all Mombot wants us to do is play nothing but checkers and chess all day on this one day of the year, and I cannot go through that again like last year. Ugh, last year was just a nightmare."

Sonic immediately glared in suspicion to his arch enemy, as he had a feeling something was still off, but at the same time, Eggman was being true to his word for once, and not faking the whole story. Orbot and Cubot glanced at each other with concern, worrying that Sonic may not let them in at all for Christmas.

"Sorry, but no can do, Eggface," said Sonic, trying to remain serious within his voice, "But we just can't seem to trust you this time around, not like four years ago. I know every single trick of yours from the back of my quills. Even if it is Christmas, then I'm afraid we can't let you in on our get together."

No sooner did Sonic say those words in his sentence, Eggman then desperately dropped down onto his knees in the snow and started begging to the blue hedgehog he called his nemesis and arch enemy.

"Oh, please, Sonic! Please!" Eggman exclaimed in a cry of plea, clasping his hands together, which almost made Sonic and Mina jump, "Have a heart! I can't just go back to that lair for Christmas, playing checkers and chess with my nagging robotic mother, or my morphing so-called brother! You have absolutely no idea what kind of torture that is for me! It's worse than when that happens on New Year's Eve! I just want to spend a proper Christmas with you and your little friends for once! I promise that I won't try to attack you or kill you with any of my tricks or robots just for today! Please, Sonic! Please, Mina! Give us a chance! We'll be very good for your Christmas get together! We promise! Just please let us in! Just for one Christmas Day! Please?!"

Sonic just stared at his begging foe and henchbots with very little convinced authority, but Mina seemed to feel a bit of a soft sympathy of sorrow for her enemy. Although Eggman was the main enemy and threat to Team Sonic, and to the people of Hedgehog Village, they couldn't just leave the poor guy and his two henchbots to suffer another Christmas with games of chess or checkers with people he didn't even like back in his fortress. Sure, Eggman could be devious and backstabbing most times, but this time, he looked like he was almost at a breaking point with having another Christmas with very boring games and very little presents on this one day of the year.

Just as Sonic was about to say 'no' again, Mina quickly stepped in, cutting off her sugar plum's intended reply.

"Please just give us a minute to think it over, Eggman?" asked Mina, giving a small sweet smile, which Eggman only nodded slowly in reply, hands still clasped together with hope.

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Sonic, before Mina dragged him back inside, shutting the door.

Inside, as Mina got ready to discuss with Sonic about the situation, Tails and Zooey came walking over to them, feeling concerned and curious about what was going on, having almost heard Eggman begging from the inside.

"Guys, I think we should give Eggman, Orbot and Cubot a chance," suggested Mina, clasping her hands together with a smile.

Tails and Zooey only gasped silently, but Sonic let off some steam on his girlfriend.

"Mina, are you out of your mind?!" he exclaimed, "We can't just let Eggman into our Christmas get together! He kept me and Tails up all night four years ago as part of his plan to kill us!"

"And he tricked me into catching Sonic, which ended up being another plan to kill us, although I got most of the blame out of the group, just two years ago!" Tails added, almost sounding as angry as his big brother.

Mina could only sigh and rub a hand against her face, feeling a little bit irritated by her boyfriend's argument against the idea of letting their enemy in just for Christmas Day. If she didn't resolve this conflict soon, then the whole day would be ruined and nothing but arguments would just go on all day long.

Putting her foot down, Mina spoke up to her family.

"Sonic, I understand that Eggman has done terrible things to you and Tails in the past," she said, "But, how would you like it if I invited everyone in the world to come along to one of my live concerts, and you couldn't come to it, because everyone found out you wouldn't let your enemy join you for Christmas Day? How would you feel then?"

"I think I could handle it well," Sonic responded, "I'd rather keep my enemy out and myself inside."

Tails and Zooey only gasped in shock at what Sonic just said, and his rude remark definitely shocked Mina. In fact, she was so annoyed at that remark of his, that she glared briefly and smacked her hand across his face, not too hard, but enough to make him see sense.

*SMACK!*

"Ouch!" shouted Sonic, putting a hand to his cheek, "What was that for?!"

"Sonic the Hedgehog!" shouted Mina, trying not to sound angry, "I can't believe that you would say something so mean like that! It's not very nice talking about your enemy like that on Christmas Day!"

Tails could only stare in silence and almost hid himself into Zooey, as Mina panted a bit and calmed herself down, taking a deep breath and trying to forget her slight anger that had just gotten to her. She didn't like doing that to Sonic, but when he was being mean or rude about people, even his enemies, then she would have no choice but make him see sense.

"Sonic," sighed Mina calmly, "I'm very sorry for slapping you, but please, don't ever say that again. I don't like to get angry, but I just don't want to hear you say that again, okay?"

Everyone in the room watched in silence as Sonic looked up to his girlfriend and sighed to himself, knowing that Mina was right about saying what he said was wrong and very rude of him to say. It almost made him tear up, being rude in front of the love of his life. He looked at Tails and Zooey, and he could see how almost scared they looked when he made that rude remark about Eggman. It made him realize that he was being a jerk, and being a jerk was definitely not something he would like to be in his life, or in his little family of four. Taking a sigh and a calming breath, Sonic looked up to Mina, who looked almost as upset as he was with himself.

"M-Mina," he said, almost shaken, "I ... I'm so sorry. I ... I just behaved like a jerk to you ... and the others. I ... I don't know what came over me."

"Come here, Sonic," said Mina, holding her arms out for a hug, "I'm sorry, too."

Wasting no time, Sonic walked over to Mina, doing his best not to tear up, and together he and his girlfriend shared a big hug of apologetic forgiveness, with Mina gently smoothing her hand across Sonic's back, while the blue hedgehog just hid his head in her shoulder, trying to regain his composure.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Sonic murmured, sighing as he pulled back from Mina's shoulder to look at her, "I don't know what came over me. I guess I was just so irritated by what Eggman did to me and Tails in the past, I just lost sight of who I was, and I was very rude to you a second ago."

"Shh, shh, it's okay, sugar plum," said Mina quietly, shushing him to calm her boyfriend down, "It's okay. I forgive you. I know you would never want to be rude to me or to your friends. You were just blinded by anger is all, and I did just give a bad example to you about our enemy."

"Sonic, you must also understand that even if Eggman is our enemy, we must all share the spirit and happiness of Christmas together," added Zooey, hugging Tails gently to comfort him from the slight drama, "We can't leave uninvited guests out in the cold, even if he is our enemy."

Amy walked up to the group, having heard and seen everything, and the pink hedgehog was better known as being the one to at least make an effort to talk to Eggman at times, including their shard interest in Fuzzy Puppy Buddies.

"Everyone needs to form a truce at Christmas," she added, hoping this would be enough to convince Sonic.

Sonic stood silent for a couple of seconds, thinking about what the girls had said to him about letting his enemy, Doctor Eggman, into joining them for one day for Christmas, as a peaceful one-off truce. Mina looked at Sonic with a bit of persuasion in her eyes, Zooey just stood awaiting a decision, and Amy had a begging sort of look in her eyes, clasping her hands together in a similar but not so dramatic way as Eggman did just a minute ago.

A brief glance at a nodding Tails was enough for Sonic to finally come to a decision. Taking a sigh, he made his decision.

"Okay, guys," said Sonic, sighing and rubbing a hand on his face, "You have me convinced. We'll let him in, but he'll have to promise not to try anything funny or sneaky during our Christmas get together."

Mina, feeling glad that Sonic was convinced, gave her boyfriend a big kiss on the cheek where she slapped him not too long ago to help soothe the little bit of pain that she might have possibly left on it. Sonic smiled and blushed at his girlfriend kissing him as her way of thanking him for changing his mind, but it wasn't too long before Mina, Zooey, Tails and Amy came around Sonic and hugged him happily in appreciation.

"Thank you, Sonic," said Mina, smiling in gratitude.

"You're welcome, Mina," replied Sonic, kissing her cheek in return, "And thank you for setting me straight, guys."

"You're welcome, sugar plum," Mina simply said.

They were soon interrupted by Eggman's voice coming from outside.

"Have you guys made up your mind in there, yet? I'm freezing out here!" Eggman was heard whining from outside the door.

"So are we!" Cubot was heard saying.

"We're robots. We don't feel the cold," Orbot was heard saying to his companion outside.

Once the group broke off from their group hug, Amy went back over to the small group in the living room, where Zooey eventually followed, escorting Tails over to join the rest of their friends.

"Who knew drama could happen on Christmas Day?" Knuckles said quietly to Sticks.

"Not everyone can just have days where nothing bad happens," Sticks responded, "Christmas, from what I've heard, is a nightmare on this cursed island, which is probably being watched right now by the government via a satellite in space."

No one, except for Knuckles, paid attention to Sticks' bizarre claim, since they were all too focused on Sonic letting their enemy in on Christmas.

Sonic and Mina held each other's hands in readiness, and with a nod, Sonic opened the door, and once again they saw Eggman was waiting outside, still on the same patch of snow, in his begging position with hands still clasped together, though he was beginning to look rather cold.

"W-Well?" said Eggman, shivering a little from the cold snow.

"Eggman, my girlfriend and my family have me convinced," said Sonic, looking more calmer and less hostile than earlier, "We are inviting you in to join our Christmas get together for today."

No sooner did Eggman hear those words, he immediately jumped off the ground and started cheering and whooping in excitement, and this time, it made Sonic jump back a bit.

"Yes!" Eggman exclaimed, feeling more happy than usual, "Oh, thank you so much, you little blue rodent!"

He stopped jumping around when he saw Mina was standing with Sonic, realizing that he had her to thank, too, for convincing his enemy to let him in on their Christmas get together.

"Oh, and thank you very, very much, Miss Mongoose," he said, doing a bowing gesture similar to royalty, "We promise not to do anything bad to anyone here today, ... at least until Boxing Day, tomorrow."

"That's good, then," smiled Mina, "But, before we let you guys in, we have just three things we want you to promise us."

"Alright, what do you want us to promise?" asked Eggman before muttering to himself quietly, "I just hope that it has nothing to do with eating all of that homemade butter by myself again, like three years ago."

"Okay, first thing that you have to promise us," said Sonic, sounding a little less serious, but not enough like earlier, "You will not attempt to kill me or my family while we're celebrating the Christmas season."

"Yes, I've already promised that," said Eggman, crossing his heart, "No evil tricks, I swear. Just as long as I can get away from Mombot and Morpho just for today."

Sonic and Mina nodded, but did glance at each other in concern. However, they moved on to the next promise Eggman needed to make.

"Alright, next, you must promise to NOT keep me, Tails, or anyone else awake all night long this time," continued Sonic, sounding a little more serious, "I'm not gonna let you make us watch episode reruns of Comedy Chimp's show on TV again."

"You got it," agreed Eggman, saluting like a soldier.

"And lastly," said Sonic, "Eggman, you must promise us that no matter what you do, you cannot tell anyone in Hedgehog Village about us inviting you in for Christmas. Got it?"

"Um, sure I guess I can do that," said Eggman, shrugging before he giggled excitedly and ran past Sonic and Mina into the house to join in on the fun.

Orbot and Cubot watched their boss almost giggle excitedly like a little school girl as he ran inside, and the two henchbots just glanced at each other with concern again, then they glanced up at Mina, because Sonic had just went back inside to make sure Eggman stayed out of trouble.

"Does your boss always get like this around Christmas, you guys?" asked Mina, getting down on her knees to see them better.

"Not always," said Orbot, shrugging, "He's usually very grumpy when it comes to Christmas, although that could be the result of him not having a proper family Christmas in the past."

"I thought we were his family?" exclaimed Cubot, feeling somewhat confused.

Mina looked at the two little robots and just giggled at them. Although they were aligned with Doctor Eggman, the mongoose girl just couldn't help but find these two little robots to be funny at times, when they're not plotting evil schemes with Eggman, or following his orders or taking his abuse at them.

"Aw, well even if Eggman doesn't admit it to you guys," said Mina before winking to them both with a sweet smile, "I'm sure he still considers you two family as well. Why? Because families care for you, and they look out for each other."

Orbot and Cubot didn't even know what to say at this point. They felt rather flattered by this mongoose girl giving them some positive words of encouragement of them being a family to Eggman. Even if their boos was a bit of an abusive creator to them, they were programmed to follow his orders, even if they could override that command and go anywhere with their free will.

They just looked at Mina, and took her words into consideration, before they were suddenly grabbed by her as she continued to smile sweetly at them, her Christmas spirit continuing to show signs of positivity and happiness.

"Merry Christmas, you guys," said Mina sweetly before she gave Orbot a kiss on his head, "Mwah!" and then giving Cubot a kiss on his head, "Mwah!"

While Orbot seemed to chuckle a little, feeling very flattered and a little embarrassed about being given a kiss on the head by a famous celebrity, Cubot was shuddering from slight affection, before he eventually collapsed into pieces in the snow, but thankfully continuing to remain activated and alive, since it was not technically an intended dismantlement. When Mina saw this, she placed a hand on her head and almost laughed with embarrassment.

"Oops!" she said, trying not to giggle, "Hehe, sorry, Cubot."

"W-Wow," was all Cubot could say as he laid there in the snow, feeling too dazed to even move or say something.

"My, you certainly have a special charm within you, Miss Mongoose," said Orbot, managing to stay together better than his companion, "I can see why Sonic is dating you. You made Cubot fall apart by accident, but I know you didn't mean to do that, so all is forgiven."

"Oh, please, call me Mina," the mongoose girl replied, winking with a sweet festive smile on her face.

As Mina crouched down and picked up the disassembled pieces of Cubot, another figure came up over the horizon towards Tails' workshop. Mina looked up and saw that it was the last guest that the group were waiting for: Perci the Bandicoot, and she was wearing her own winter clothing and carrying two presents wrapped in Christmas paper with bows on them.

When Perci arrived, she saw Mina picking up Cubot piece by piece, and this brought confusion upon her face, just before seeing Orbot hovering into the house to join the Christmas get together.

"Have I missed anything, Mina?" asked Perci, feeling concerned.

"No, no," smiled Mina, "You're just in time, Perci. We've been waiting for you, although I don't think Knuckles can wait any longer to open the presents."

As if on cue, a commotion was heard going on inside, involving a certain echidna and a pink hedgehog, along with the sound of a glass smashing on the floor inside Tails' home.

"Knuckles, I said we have to wait for Perci to arrive before we can open the presents!" Amy was heard shouting in annoyance from inside, "Put that present down, right now!"

"But I can't wait any longer, Amy!" whined Knuckles, "Let me just open up one present!"

"No! You can wait, mister!" shouted Amy, "Now, put it down!"

"Never!" shouted Knuckles.

"Knuckles, we weren't asking!" yelled Sonic, "Put the present down!"

"No!" Knuckles barked back, "It's my present! You can't just take it away from me!"

Before long, chaos ensured, with clattering and rattling being heard from inside the house. Perci looked inside to see Knuckles being chased by Amy and Sonic, carrying a present in his muscular hands, which he wanted to open up so badly, but the pink and blue hedgehogs weren't gonna let that happen so easily.

Sticks, Tails and Zooey eventually joined Sonic and Amy in the chase after Knuckles, determined to make him wait a little longer and make sure he didn't open up the present before Perci even got the chance to arrive and join the group. Apparently, the Christmas get together rule was that no present shall be opened, until everyone was accounted for. All Eggman did was just watch with silence, eating a chocolate chip cookie from last night on a nearby coffee table, as Orbot joined his master and proceeded to watch the chase after Knuckles go on.

Sighing, knowing what kind of madness was going on with Knuckles and the others inside the house, Mina looked to Perci, who smirked with thankfully good-natured humor.

"I guess Knuckles couldn't wait any longer for me, couldn't he?" chuckled Perci.

"Nope, I guess he couldn't," replied Mina, chuckling again, "We've allowed our foe Eggman to join our Christmas get together, this year, but we'll explain all that later. In the meantime, would you mind helping us catch the runaway echidna?"

"Sure thing," nodded Perci, "Let's stop him before he causes anymore trouble for us on Christmas Day. I know the one thing that'll stop him."

As Perci entered through the doorway into Tails' home, Mina closed the door behind herself, as the chase with Knuckles and the present he was trying to open continued on throughout the early morning of Christmas Day.

* * *

 _ **And so, after a little tension between Sonic and Mina, and an unexpected guest, our family of four and their friends are in for quite an eventful Christmas party!**_

 _ **We hope you've enjoyed**_ _ **our special 'Family of Four' Christmas episode, and we hope to see you all very soon! ^^  
**_

 _ **Until then, have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! :)**_

 _ **See you in 2019!**_


	5. New Year Begins!

_**Well, 2018 has been quite a year for me on FanFiction. My story writing has definitely taken quite an adventure this year, particularly in the Land Before Time fandom, and all the stories I've worked on with my dear friend, grimlock1997. If I had to choose one highlight from my story writing in 2018, I would have to say writing a Land Before Time story dedicated to the late Judith Barsi and posting it on the 30th anniversary of her tragic death. The story subsequently became the Gang of Five forum's top-rated story of the year!**_

 _ **So, as we say goodbye to 2018, I just wanted to say to you all, have a very Happy New Year, and I will be back for much more in 2019! With that, this will be my last fanfiction activity of 2018, and what better why to finish the year than with a New Year's episode to Family of Four! We hope you enjoy, and again, Happy New Year!**_

* * *

 _ **NEW YEAR BEGINS!**_

* * *

It was New Year's Eve on Bygone Island, and ever since Christmas had passed about a week ago, everything had been reasonably quiet. Eggman wasn't up to his old tricks for quite a while, which was rather unusual of him to be doing, since he would always launch an attack on Hedgehog Village at every chance he had, even if his plans were foiled by Team Sonic.

The townspeople were getting ready to count down the final few minutes that remained of the old year, 2018, and when the New Year Ball Drop eventually reached the bottom and smashed, the brand new year, 2019, would eventually start, and another year would eventually be a new adventure for Team Sonic.

The snow in the town had all but gone in the last week, which made walking conditions much better and safer for the village folk in the small town.

Over on the top of a huge mountain hill that overlooked the whole island, four close family figures were all sitting together on the hill, watching the New Year's Eve events going on in the village from afar.

Mina was wearing her very special purple and black streaked dress, which had golden sparkle beads dotted on the bottom skirts of it, while Zooey was wearing a sparkly rose red dress, with a pearl white necklace and wrist bracelet, and a beautiful red rose in her hair. Both girls had decided to dress smartly for this very special night for their respective boyfriends, and when Sonic and Tails saw their loved ones dressed up so beautifully, they both had the socks knocked off their feet.

The time was 11:58 PM, and there were only two minutes left before 2018 ended for good, and the new year would eventually start. Sonic, who was wearing his brand newly designed pair of running shoes that he had gotten on Christmas Day, had an arm around Mina. Zooey was happily leaning against Tails, an arm around his shoulder, while the two-tailed fox had a hand around her waist.

"Can you believe that's it's nearly the end of 2018 already, guys?" asked Mina as she snuggled closely against Sonic.

"Heh, yeah it's unbelievable," said Sonic in agreement, "Another year has gone by, and Eggman has once again been defeated by the power of teamwork, and his robots are all but smashed."

"But, that doesn't mean that he won't give up yet, Sonic," Tails pointed out, "Sure, he may be defeated now, but he'll be back with some more of his crazy and evil plans, I can assure you that."

"True, I suppose," shrugged Sonic, "Still, we'll be ready for him in the new year."

"Hehe, indeed you will be, sugar plum," giggled Mina, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek and earning a chuckle.

As Sonic and Mina continued to snuggle closely together, Tails was having a wonderful time with Zooey. The young two-tailed fox was looking forward to spending the New Year with the girl of his dreams, his brother, Sonic, and the friends he had known for a long time, which included Amy, Knuckles, Sticks and Perci. Even Mina was a very close family figure to him, almost like as if she was his big sister or motherly figure. Whichever was best suited, Tails would always have a special place in his heart for Mina, and for his other family figures, Sonic and Zooey.

As the minutes counted down closer to the end of the year, within the town, the New Year Ball Drop was getting closer to reaching the ground and smashing once the clock struck midnight. All the townspeople were in the center ready to celebrate, with Sticks, Amy, Knuckles and Perci amongst them, along with Soar, Mike and Wild Cat, all awaiting the New Year.

"Hehe, look at Sticks down there, Tails," said Zooey, pointing to the town and spotting the orange and brown badger, "Is she doing some strange ritual or something?"

"Nah, that's just Sticks being ... well, Sticks," replied Tails as he watched Sticks run about in a frenzied state, "She was unbelievably very nice to me today, since she is always skeptical about my ideas and inventions."

"Ah well," said Mina, "Maybe she was just trying to be as nice to you as possible just for the new year, Tails?"

"Possibly, Mina," chuckled Tails, "Providing that Sticks doesn't go completely crazy, of course. Just be careful that you don't get on her crazy side, because if you do, she will be an unstoppable machine of talking about crazy theories and paranoia rumors that may give you a splitting headache."

"Well, she hasn't given me a headache yet," said Sonic, "Although, Knuckles has, because of his unstoppable or even incurable stupidity."

"Hehe, he's not that bad, Sonic," chuckled Mina, "We're all pretty much used to hearing him and his silly little stories. Now, let's sit back, relax and wait for the new year to start, shall we?"

"Absolutely!" giggled Zooey happily, "We're just a few minutes away from the start of the new year!"

"Just a couple of seconds left, Zooey," Tails pointed out, feeling excited, "Amy says that this year's New Year countdown will be much better than last year's Ball Drop event."

"Without Eggman, or those Lighting Bolt losers interfering with the event, at least we can all watch the fireworks without any trouble, or having to rush downtown to the rescue, because of some ridiculous shenanigans," Sonic pointed out.

"Just a couple of seconds now, guys!" said Tails excitedly, "The ten seconds are about to begin!"

As Tails anticipated the end of the countdown, he felt Zooey wrapping her arms around him for a snuggle that greatly warmed him. He even received a sweet kiss on the cheek from his girlfriend, which made him happily blush and giggle.

"Your dress looks absolutely amazing, Zooey," said Tails, smiling and looking at his girlfriend's sparkly rose red dress.

"Thank you, sweet peach," Zooey replied, fluttering her eyelashes at Tails cutely, "I wore this dress for tonight, since it's New Year's Eve, and it makes a nice change from my usual attire."

"And I can see Mina has her special dress for her 'sugar plum'," added Tails, giggling and glancing at Sonic.

Sonic just blushed in embarrassment, while Mina giggled in response to Tails' cheeky but innocent comment.

Then, the sound of the people in Hedgehog Village saying the countdown by the New Year Ball Drop was heard, even from the distance of the hill they sat on. The countdown for the new year had begun, and the people were heard saying it nice and loud for the family of four to hear.

Mina snuggled closer to Sonic, who in turn brought her closer to him for a warm snuggle with his beautiful girlfriend.

"Here we go, sugar plum," giggled Mina.

"Yep, and we've got a front row seat for it," added Sonic, winking with a grin.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, ..." the people were heard saying.

Suddenly, Tails saw Zooey step in front of him with a big smile, and he chuckled and smiled back. She leaned in slowly towards him with her sweet, romantic smile, and Tails could see that she was getting ready to kiss him.

"Happy New Year, Tailsy," said Zooey sweetly.

"Five, four, three, two, one, ..." the village people finished counting down.

At that very instant, Zooey tightly hugged Tails and planted a huge kiss on his lips. To the two-tailed fox, the kiss felt so delicate, passionate and loving, and he slipped into a dreamy trance as he felt her love for him melt his heart with happiness. His twin-tails even entwined together into the shape of a love heart.

Mina was just turning away from snuggling Sonic, when she caught the sight of Zooey giving Tails possibly the most loving and passionate kiss in the young fox's life. The mongoose giggled quietly at the sight of the two loving foxes, and placed a hand on her chest, since she was finding the scene very adorable.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" they heard the huge crowd scream in excitement, and the fireworks started bursting into the night sky in many colors.

Zooey continued kissing Tails for a moment until she finally let him go of her tight hug, so he could get a glance of the fireworks.

Tails managed to get a glimpse at the many colors in the sky, and he smiled dreamily before he snuggled close to Zooey and sighed as if he was still in a trance. Zooey just laughed happily and looked at her dream-tranced boyfriend, although he was looking a little bit light headed in his daydreaming state.

"Happy New Year ... Zooey," murmured Tails, almost in a whisper, before he closed his eyes and suddenly collapsed.

"Tails!" exclaimed Zooey worriedly, hugging him to keep him from falling onto the ground, "Oh, my ... uh ... I think ... I might have ... kissed him a little too delicately."

Unbeknownst to her, Sonic had gotten out his video camera and had recorded the whole thing; the final countdown, the fireworks, the kiss and Tails fainting from all that love Zooey had given him. The hedgehog did his best not to chuckle at the scene he had just secretly filmed on his camera. Mina turned back to Sonic and giggled quietly to her boyfriend after seeing Zooey unintentionally making Tails fall unconscious from her special new year kiss.

"Oh, my," whispered Mina to Sonic, "That must have been some kiss."

"A very special one, may I add," added Sonic as he noticed that Tails appeared to still be smiling despite losing consciousness.

"Speaking of which," said Mina, and before Sonic could process the next thought, the mongoose wrapped her arms around him and gave him a pleasant kiss on the cheek.

The hedgehog blushed with a smile as he felt Mina's love for him sink into his heart.

"Happy New Year, sugar plum," said Mina passionately with a smile.

"Happy New Year, my love," replied Sonic happily, and he returned the kiss on her cheek.

Before long, Sonic and Mina glanced at each other romantically, and they moved close together and kissed each other passionately to share their love and care for each other which they hoped would continue to shine through into the new year of 2019.

Zooey walked up to them, carrying an unconscious Tails with her, and he noticed that Sonic was about to drop his video camera as he was concentrating only on kissing Mina. The vixen discreetly swiped it from his hand and pointed the camera on the two lovers kissing as the colorful lights of the fireworks illuminated the scene like fading blacklights. She chuckled quietly in an effort not to disrupt them, and once the two were finished, she quietly handed Sonic back his camera so that he would never notice that she had even taken.

That would be, until he saw the video after they got home.

With 2018 now over and done with, 2019 was officially underway. The family of four would be ready to start the brand new year with more exciting family moments, and possibly new adventures together with their friends on Bygone Island, and within Hedgehog Village.

Of course, enemies and rivals like Metal Sonic, Doctor Eggman, Orbot, Cubot, the Lightning Bolt Society, and even Charlie and T.W Barker would be around the corner to try and defeat them, although Team Sonic would always be ready to face them and defeat them with the power of teamwork.

Aside from those problems, the family of four, Sonic, Tails, Mina and Zooey were ready to have a brand new year together as a happy family.

* * *

 ** _And that's our shortest episode in Family of Four finished!_**

 ** _We apologize for the short length of this episode, but hopefully, we will have better episodes and stories to come in our series for 2019. ^^ We are actually considering a possible dark story arc based on an idea that involves a rather dark and edgy hedgehog, and a familiar fox of darkness. ;)_**

 ** _For now, we will continue with heartwarming family episodes with comedy, romance and adventures to start off the new year off nicely. ^^_**

 ** _Oh, and many special thanks to our close friend and follower, PeachyAuthor, who has been following our 'Family of Four' series since the start of December 2018. Happy New Year, Peachy! Thank you so much for tuning into our fanfic series and being a strong supporter to our stories on Sonic, Tails, Mina and Zooey. Without you, and our other followers, this series wouldn't have continued on without your kind and supportive comments. :)_**

 ** _Stay tuned everyone! More episodes are to come in 2019! ;)_**

 ** _Anyways, Happy New Year, everybody!_**

 ** _Let's hope that 2019 gets a great kick start!_**

 ** _Until next time, this is DiddyKF1 saying, "Happy New Year!"_**


	6. Water Caves (Part 1)

**_After over a month since grimlock1997 and I had last updated 'Family of Four', we're back with a brand new episode! A two parter to be exact!_**

 ** _In this two parter episode, following a rather boring day in Hedgehog Village, Mina comes up with the idea of exploring a cave somewhere on Bygone Island, and her family, Sonic, Tails and Zooey, agree to this idea, and soon head out in search for a cave somewhere in the jungle. When they find one, Sonic soon learns that it has the one thing he wasn't expecting to see inside of it..._**

 ** _Episode 6 is being split in two parts, mainly because we were struggling with the latter half of it, and then suddenly my area got slapped with a hurricane-force wind threat that will probably leave me out of commission for up to a week (unless, by some miracle, the power stays on throughout the entire ordeal). The winds are expected to gust up to 75 MPH by Sunday night, and I'm not looking forward to spending over 24 hours living in fear of Mother Nature's tremendous violence against humanity._**

 ** _We hope you enjoy the first part, and welcome back the 'Family of Four' series!_**

* * *

 ** _WATER CAVES_**

 ** _(Part 1)_**

* * *

It was a quiet day on Bygone Island, and while the winter weather was slowly starting to clear away in time for the spring season, it didn't mean that the weather would warm up for at least another few weeks. Small bits of frost remained on some parts of the island and around Hedgehog Village, but there wasn't enough to make it slippery like ice.

In the village, nothing much was going on as everyone got on with their daily business, doing nothing particularly interesting. Ever since New Year's Eve had passed, everything had gone quiet once again, and as promised, Doctor Eggman came back to once again trying to take over the town, but to very little success, as Team Sonic always foiled his plans like usual.

The family of four were sitting around in the living room of Mina Mongoose's house, trying to figure out what to do on a burning day like this. Sonic and Tails were listening to Mina playing on her brand new guitar that she had gotten for Christmas, while Zooey was in the kitchen getting herself and the family some juice boxes from the fridge.

"Ohh, what to do, today?" Mina thought, strumming on her guitar.

"I can't do boredom, that's one thing," said Sonic, feeling a bit restless than usual, "Eggman's not attacking town today, and I particularly don't fancy helping Vector solve another case for him."

"Vector?" asked Mina, "You mean that crocodile detective from that popular detective show he produces?"

"Yep, that's him," confirmed Tails, "Amy had asked for his help one time, after her precious hammer got stolen, and all that fuss snooping around the town, was just for an inanimate object getting stolen."

Sonic chuckled a little at that comment Tails made, and although he found that a bit funny, he knew that Amy would possibly knock the living daylights out of the fox if he had said that around her.

Zooey came into the living room carrying four boxes of juice for her small family. She gave an orange juice to her "sweet peach," Tails, an apple juice for Sonic, a pineapple juice box to Mina, and cranberry juice for herself.

"Here you go, guys," she said, handing out the juice boxes, "Just thought that some carton drinks would be refreshing."

"Thank you, Zooey," said Tails, smiling at his girlfriend, and he took a sip of his juice, "But we haven't been able to think about anything we can do, today."

"And we've been everywhere on this island, too," sighed Sonic, taking a sip of his drink, "It gets really boring on this island after a while."

Zooey could only nod understandably to the boys, drinking out of her cranberry carton as she did. The room went quiet again before Mina clicked her fingers, a sudden thought coming into her mind.

"Ooh, I know!" she exclaimed, "Why don't we go explore a cave somewhere?"

"A cave?" Zooey asked curiously.

"What kind of cave?" asked Tails as he sat up on the couch, "There are very little caves around the area."

"Except for that blasted Buddy Buddy Temple," Sonic pointed out, shuddering at one particular memory based on that name, "Urgh, I do not want to go back in that nightmare temple again."

Tails could only nod in agreement with Sonic, as the thought of the Buddy Buddy Temple only reminded him on how Amy, Knuckles and Sticks kept saying "No!" to him, while they were arguing over who should be temporary leader in Sonic's absence. Whenever Tails calmly suggested he should be in charge, he would get shot down with negative feedback, even from Orbot and Cubot.

Thankfully, Sonic had found out about this not too long ago, and so he managed to talk with Amy, Knuckles and Sticks about giving Tails a chance sometimes. Although they were reluctant at first, they did agree to those terms, since Sonic was the leader, and he had faith that Tails would grow up someday to become a great leader.

Mina, having thought about the cave idea, got up from her couch and carefully placed her guitar in a corner of the room. She turned back to her family with a warm grin.

"Well, guys, if you want to do something today, then I think we should go and see if there is a cave around," she said, "So, let's pack a few snacks in a basket, get our coats on, and go cave searching!"

Once the mongoose girl had finished that sentence, Sonic and Tails glanced at each other for a moment, thinking about the idea of going cave-searching. Although they knew that Eggman could always attack the town, it would make a bit of a nice change to have a bit of a day off from fighting him for once. Besides that, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks were most likely unavailable to hang out with today because of other things they might be busy with. So, perhaps spending the day with their girlfriends would be a good way to relax from their usual antics.

After giving each other a nod of acknowledgement, Sonic and Tails stood up from the couch and looked over to Mina and Zooey.

"Well, I think that's a great idea, Mina," said Sonic, winking to his girl, "We could all use with a bit of exercise, and a different adventure for once."

"And it would beat sitting around in this ghost town all day, too," added Tails, crossing his arms over his chest with a grin, "We're in, Mina!"

Mina giggled in excitement, clasping her hands together, while Zooey finished off her cranberry juice box and stood up from the other couch.

"Well, in that case, let's get some snacks together, grab our coats and go exploring!" said Mina excitedly, as she dashed her way out of her living room.

Sonic chuckled at his girlfriend's overexcited state, finding her to be a little more energetic than he was, given that the mongoose girl had super speed like he did. Sometimes though, he worried that Mina could be a little hard to control when she was in this excitable state, whenever someone agreed to an idea of hers. Luckily though, Mina was able to keep herself calm and stable through the whole excitement moment.

Tails and Zooey could only chuckle together at their friend's near hyperactive energy, as the family walked out of the living room, went to join Mina in making a bit of picnic food and snacks to take with them in a basket, got their chosen coats to wear, and headed out of Mina's home in the village to begin their journey to search for a cave to explore somewhere in the jungles of Bygone Island.

* * *

The four took a curious walk through the jungle, wondering if they could find someplace they had never previously explored. Their curiosities seemed to get the better of them with every step they took.

Fruits were seen hanging from the trees above, looking bright and edible, the grass was fresh and greener than it had ever been before, flowers were blooming beautifully in the sunshine, butterflies fluttered quietly around the jungle, and squirrels jumped around on the trees and branches, gathering acorns and taking them back into their hollowed out tree homes.

For their coats, since it was a bit chilly in the jungle, Sonic was wearing his winter coat that he used during the search for the Meroke Crystal on the island's snow mountains, Tails was wearing what looked like a familiar grey trench coat with six white buttons on it, Mina wore a simple fur-trimmed purple and black-streaked winter jacket, and Zooey was wearing a red winter jacket, which was the same color as her dress.

Mina, who was carrying her new guitar slung on her back, just in case the group needed any relaxing music during their journey, looked up at the jungle trees and sighed in bliss, while her family followed close behind her.

"This is such a beautiful place," smiled Mina blissfully.

Zooey, who was carrying the group's picnic basket in her hand, nodded in agreement to the mongoose girl's comment, and looked up at the fruits in the tree branches, which included apples, cantaloupes, grapes, oranges and pears.

"I could spend a night here if I thought about it," said Zooey, admiring the many fruits in their surroundings, "There's just so many wonderful fruits here."

"I could spend a day anywhere," smirked Sonic, simply enjoying the idea of wandering around some unknown place, "As long as I have a chili dog on that day."

Tails looked up at Sonic with a teasing smirk.

"You can't go anywhere without eating a chili dog, can't ya, big bro?" he asked with a chuckle.

Sonic turned to Tails and just shrugged his shoulders in a cool fashion, nodding with a smile.

"Don't you think that coat is a little too thick for you, Sonic?" asked Zooey, looking at Sonic's thick winter jacket.

"Nah, it's not as thick as you think, Zooey," replied Sonic, "It may look like it, but really it's just an ordinary one from the inside of the material, while the outside of the jacket has warm wind and winter proof layers."

Zooey only nodded in reply to Sonic's explanation, although she felt a little confused by what he was talking about, since Sonic could talk almost a mile a minute with his cocky attitude. Not everyone could understand what he was talking about at times. Brushing the subject aside, Zooey followed on with the family, taking Tails' hand as she did, which made the two-tailed fox smile.

As the family of four continued on walking through the jungle, Tails spotted something rocky and grey to their right.

"Hey! Is that a cave I see up ahead?" said Tails excitedly, pointing ahead to what looked like a cave entrance.

The four ran to the entrance and stopped to get a closer look at it. Mina led the group forwards, feeling the most excited out of the group.

"Oh boy!"said Mina excitedly, "We've found our first cave!"

When they arrived at the entrance, they could tell just from the outside, that the inside must be huge and long, just like a tunnel. For a moment, everyone stood outside to admire the features of the entrance, before deciding to take a walk inside.

"Wow, this places looks big, guys," said Zooey.

"And it's a bit echoey," added Tails, hearing his voice echo inside the cave.

"And it's just the place we can explore away from the town," grinned Mina excitedly, "This is just the day off that we needed."

"This is pretty cool," chuckled Sonic.

As the hedgehog took a few steps in, however, he heard the sound of himself stepping in what sounded like a shallow puddle. He tensed and looked down, and he saw that the cave floor was covered with water, but it wasn't just one puddle. There were actually quite a few puddles of water scattered about the cave floor. Within a moment, his mind shifted into panic.

"Uh, ... maybe not as cool as I thought," he stuttered, shaking his shoe off from any small water drops on it.

"Oh, come on, Sonic!" laughed Tails teasingly, "Water is just water!"

"There's no need to be afraid of just the simplest puddles," chuckled Mina.

"Maybe we'll find just about anything in this cave," added Zooey.

"If you say so, guys," said Sonic doubtfully, and he reluctantly followed his three friends inside.

Just as he started to follow them, a small drop of water dripped from a stalagmite on the rocky ceiling and fell onto Sonic's head with a cold, harmless drop and disappeared quickly. Nevertheless, it was enough for him to jolt from the feeling of water being dripped on his head.

"Ahh!" he yelped as he jumped in fear.

While Tails led Zooey on further into the tunnel-like cave, Mina heard Sonic yelp and walked back over to see him. She looked at him with a kind smile, while rubbing a finger gently across his cheek to calm him down.

"Don't worry, sugar plum, I'm here," said Mina, giving her boyfriend a reassuring hug, "It's only water, it's not gonna hurt you."

Sonic could only hug Mina back in a bit of a panicked state, but he did try his best to keep himself calm within the arms of his girlfriend. As much as he didn't want to be like a bit of a coward around his family just because he was afraid of water, he just couldn't help it today. The last time he got scared around water was when he was forced to wear that swimsuit Tails had made for him. Now that he was inside a cave with puddles of water around the cave floor, Sonic just couldn't help nearly shaking like a leaf in front of his girlfriend. Even if he was proclaimed as the fastest hedgehog alive, the only weakness he ever had to slow him down was water.

Sonic looked at Mina as they broke away from their hug.

"I'm sorry, Mina," he sighed, "It's just ... I cannot stand water at all. I've nearly drowned twice in the past, and I don't intend to go swimming anytime soon. I just hope we can get this cave exploration done as soon as possible."

"I understand, sweetheart," said Mina, gently rubbing one of Sonic's ears with her hand, "Everyone's gonna have a fear of something in their lives, but we must stand tall and be brave, otherwise you may never conquer that fear later in your life."

"Well, the way I'm going in this cave, I don't think I'll ever conquer water for a minute in my life," Sonic said back, listening to the drips of water in the cave around the two of them.

"Just try and keep calm, okay, Sonic?" asked Mina nicely as she held Sonic's hand in hers, "For me, sugar plum? Please?"

Sonic looked at Mina's sweet and kind-hearted smile, seeing that she wanted him to be safe, but she also wanted him to promise her to keep himself calm in the water caves. Although he would usually deny anything to do with water-related topics, Sonic just couldn't say 'no' to his girlfriend.

Gently grabbing her hand in his, Sonic leaned forward and kissed his girlfriend on the lips gently, which Mina returned without hesitation.

"Okay, Mina," he promised as they broke off the kiss, "I'll try to remain calm. Just for you."

Grinning, Mina replied, "Thank you, sugar plum. Now, let's go and catch up with Tails and Zooey. We don't want to be left too far behind now."

Nodding to his loved one, Sonic kept his hand in Mina's as the two began walking off together further into the cave.

Tails and Zooey had noticed their absence and waited for them to catch up. Once everyone was back together, the family of four continued on with their exploration.

* * *

Sometime later, Sonic had managed to stay calm for a little bit, although as the journey in the cave continued on, and more droplets of water kept on splashing down on the back of his blue quills, the hedgehog's promise to Mina was slowly beginning to degrade.

Mina could already sense Sonic was tensing again, but said nothing, and kept her hand firmly in his to keep her boyfriend from running off.

After a few minutes of silence, Zooey finally broke the silence.

"What do you think we'll find in these caves, guys?"

"I'm not sure, Zooey," replied Mina, "All we have seen so far are puddles of water."

"Perhaps we may find a shortcut or an exit out of this cave?" suggested Sonic, although the others ignored that question completely.

"Maybe some treasure?" pondered Tails curiously.

"Possibly," said Zooey, "But, where would we find treasure in a cave like this?"

"You'll never know, Zooey," Mina spoke up, "Until we look into this cave further, then we don't know what we'll find in it."

Tails then saw something ahead, although it looked more like the end of the cave route they were walking on.

"Well, I think I've found something," he said, "But Sonic isn't gonna like it."

"W-What is it, Tails?" Sonic questioned, stuttering a little.

The blue hedgehog found the answer to his question when he saw what Tails had 'found'.

"I found this," Tails simply said, pointing forwards.

Much to Sonic's disheartening dismay, the family of four had come to the end of their path and saw what looked like a long stream of water, rushing through what looked like a long cave tunnel, almost like a tunnel of love cave, except without the romance, animatronics or cardboard cut outs of love hearts and other things related to the tunnel of love.

The water flowed quietly and somewhat soothingly, and it looked crystal clear, but to Sonic, this water looked like it wanted him to step into it and be dragged underneath it into a world of no return.

While Sonic was not at all keen about seeing this "nightmare" in front of him, Mina, Tails and Zooey were intrigued by the flowing stream, which seemed to be almost like a rushing river.

"Wow, would you look at this, guys?" said Mina, her eyes almost as sparkly as the water.

"Who would've thought we'd find a water stream inside an old cave?" added Zooey, dipping her hand gently in the water.

"Hey, Sonic, you reckon you could swim in this stream?" joked Tails, gently poking at his brother's chest with his finger.

"A-Absolutely not, Tails!" objected Sonic, glaring at his brother, "You know that I can't swim! I almost drowned in that ice lake, if you remember rightly! And you made me wear a swimsuit underwater just to stop Eggman trying to drown me!"

Tails almost laughed at the hedgehog's overreacting nature, as he knew that poking fun at Sonic's aquaphobia was one way to make him anxious, especially around the very substance close by him.

"I'm just joking, Sonic!" chuckled Tails, trying not to burst out laughing, "You know I'd never make you swim for real."

"You'd better not," Sonic muttered, almost shaking on the spot.

As Mina turned around and went over to Sonic and gave him another reassuring hug, Zooey continued to look at the water and watched it rushing through a tunnel-like cave mouth, heading into darkness straight ahead.

"Say, guys, why don't we travel through that tunnel, and see where it leads us?" asked Zooey, pointing to the tunnel on the water stream.

Hearing this almost made Sonic shake again, as the thought of sailing on water almost made him want to run out of the cave as fast as his legs could carry him.

"T-Travel on that water? Without a b-boat?" he stuttered, "You must be j-joking!"

"I'm not joking, Sonic," replied Zooey, "I say we travel through that tunnel and see where it goes from here. Maybe we might find something on the other side of it."

"Well, without a boat or a raft, I don't see how we're gonna reach the other side, if there is one," said Mina.

Tails had heard the conversation and while there was no boat or raft to be seen, he thought about using his creativity on this problem for once. After all, without Amy and Sticks around to give critical words to him and his ideas, this was finally the day for him to become useful to his friends.

Looking down at his grey trench coat, Tails knew that the coat he was wearing wasn't just any ordinary one, because it had a special ability in it, but he had yet to show his family on what it could actually do to help them sort out the 'no boat' problem and travel down the water stream and through the tunnel.

Walking to the edge of the cave floor and turning around to face his family, Tails got their attention by calling to them.

"Hey, guys! I have just the thing to help us travel down this water stream!"

"Ooh, really, Tails?" asked Zooey with interest.

"And what would that be, little one?" asked Mina, putting an arm around Sonic.

"It's this!" said Tails, gesturing at his apparently ordinary-looking trench coat.

Zooey, Mina and Sonic just stared at their fox friend, almost confused out of their minds at first, thinking that a coat was not going to help them in their time of need. Sonic, in particular, was very doubtful at this little idea.

"A coat?" he said, dumbfounded, "You're saying a trench coat is going to help us swim across that icy cold trap of unforgiving evil?"

Tails just chuckled quietly as he reached for one of the six buttons on his apparently normal trench coat.

"You guys may think this is just an ordinary coat," he smirked, "But you won't be judging my ideas once I've shown you what it can really do. Just watch and it'll answer your question."

Everyone just watched in doubtful silence as Tails grabbed one of the buttons on his coat and pulled it out, revealing some black string attached to it. Letting the button go and retracting it back to its original place, Tails stood still before a sound was heard coming from the coat itself. It sounded like an air pressure building up inside the coat's material.

Before the group could even ask what was going on, they were silenced into stunned surprise as Tails' coat began inflating right in front of their eyes, with air inside the coat making it move around and push out in various places in the material. Thankfully, though, the inflating trench coat was not changing Tails' shape or form at all. While his body remained absolutely normal, the coat continued to inflate, almost acting as an airbag, but it did let Tails stay on the ground by his feet.

"W-What the...?" Mina stuttered, clearly surprised.

"What kind of coat is that?!" Sonic exclaimed loudly, earning glares from the two girls.

Tails just chuckled at seeing his family's stunned looks, just as the coat finally stopped inflating and made the fox look like a familiar cyborg human inspector with gadgets in his body, only he wasn't wearing the hat to go with it. Once the coat stopped inflating, Tails stood there with a smile, feeling happy that one of his inventions had actually worked for once.

"Did that answer your question, guys?" he giggled.

"Wow!" exclaimed Zooey, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, "That definitely surprised me!"

"Such creative genius indeed," added Mina, giggling at Tails, "That was amazing, Tails!"

"An inflatable coat?" said Sonic, his eye almost twitching in disbelief, "You can't be serious, Tails?"

"Yes, I'm serious, Sonic, and this coat is gonna be your raft to help us sail along this water stream!" grinned Tails.

Jumping backwards off the ground, Tails splashed down onto the water, and because his inflatable coat was full of air and water proof, it allowed him to float above the water, the coat acting as a raft for his family, once again, the coat never changing Tails' body or form at all.

As Tails used his arms to keep himself from drifting away from the group, he grinned to Zooey, Mina and Sonic. The blue hedgehog looked almost pale like a ghost, knowing now that Tails planned to help them sail across his most hated enemy, other than Doctor Eggman or Swifty the Shrew: Water.

"Well, all aboard!" smiled Tails, "This inflatable coat will be your raft for the one way journey down the stream. Just be careful when you sit on the coat, guys, 'cus any sudden movements or sharp objects will puncture this coat."

Zooey turned to glance at Mina and Sonic, and while the blue hedgehog said nothing and shook like the leaf he was, Mina smiled and nodded to Zooey, acknowledging the creative idea Tails had made with using his inflatable coat as their raft to travel downstream.

"Well, let's get on, guys!" said Mina, "We have the rest of this cave to explore yet! We need to see what's on the other side of it!"

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Sonic in alarm.

Nodding to the mongoose, Zooey grinned, grabbed the picnic basket from Sonic's hand, and carefully made her way onto Tails' inflatable coat raft, making sure to be careful where she stepped, before sitting herself down on the coat, putting the picnic basket on her lap, and making herself as comfortable as possible.

Tails smiled up at Zooey, who in turn, smiled back at her boyfriend in return, before smoothing a gentle hand across his cheek, making him giggle.

Mina was the next to board, but when she looked back at Sonic, expecting him to follow her onto the coat raft, he did not move a muscle, nor a leg.

"Come on, Sonic," she called to him, "We have a raft to go through the tunnel. Don't keep us waiting now."

"Umm, s-sorry, Mina," Sonic responded, slowly backing away, "But I kinda can't keep that p-promise from earlier. I, uhh, can't do water, nor boat rides. So, I think you guys can go on without me, okay? I'd prefer to stay on dry land and run anywhere my feet can take me."

Knowing that Sonic was breaking his promise to her, and knowing that he was trying to weasel his way out of sailing on the water, Mina glared unimpressively with her eyes half closed, before quickly dashing over to Sonic and grabbing him gently yet forcefully by the arm, before the blue hedgehog could even get a chance to run away.

Once he felt his girlfriend grab him by the arm, Sonic knew that he couldn't get away from the mongoose girl, but it didn't hurt him to try anyways. However, no matter how much he tried to run, Mina just wouldn't let him get away from her.

"No, you don't, Sonic," said Mina, dragging a struggling Sonic over to the waiting inflatable coat raft, "You're gonna sit with us on the raft, even if I have to force you to sit on my lap."

"N-NO!" shouted Sonic, trying but failing to get free from Mina's grip, "Let me go, Mina! I'm serious! I don't wanna sit near the water! I'll drown! Let me go!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Mina scolded, paying no attention and keeping her grip on Sonic's arm firm, "And you're supposed to be the fearless leader of Team Sonic, aren't you?"

As Sonic continued to struggle to get away, Mina carefully stepped onto the coat raft, and sat herself down on it, keeping a panicking Sonic down on her lap to ensure he didn't try anything stupid on the journey he was forced to go on.

Tails looked up to see Mina and Sonic were on board.

"All set, guys?" he asked.

"Yes, Tails," said Zooey, smiling at her boyfriend.

"I don't wanna go sailing!" screamed Sonic, looking in horror at the water beside them.

"We're ready, Tails!" called Mina, completely ignoring Sonic's protests, "You can start our journey now!"

"Okay, then!" Tails said, acknowledging the 'all-okay' signal, "Now, everyone, just sit back, relax, and let the inflatable coat take us on our journey down the stream of water."

With his arms no longer paddling the water to keep himself from staying in place, Tails placed both of them to his sides, as the current in the water began to move his coat along the stream slowly and carefully. Zooey smiled at what the tunnel could possibly show from inside, while Mina continued to hold Sonic down to once again make sure he didn't try anything stupid.

Within a few seconds into the journey, the inflatable coat raft entered the water cave tunnel and disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

 ** _So, the family of four have entered the water caves, much to Sonic's dismay, and are now traveling into a tunnel on the water stream, with Tails using his inflatable coat as a raft for his family to sit on, as they continue on their journey._**

 ** _As you probably guessed, grimlock1997 got the inflatable coat idea from the original 1983 'Inspector Gadget' TV series. :)_**

 ** _We hope you enjoyed part one, and please stay tuned for part two!_**


	7. Water Caves (Part 2)

**_WATER CAVES_**

 ** _(Part 2)_**

* * *

Before long, the tunnel turned very dark. Despite the impending darkness, though, Tails could still see where he was going, even when he was lying on his back against the water on his inflatable coat. Zooey and Mina simply relaxed as they enjoyed the ride, finding it to be peaceful and very quiet indeed.

Sonic, on the other hand, was hyperventilating with tremendous fear. To him, this felt like entering a world of oblivion. Nothing but water and darkness felt like his worst nightmare come true, and he longed for it to be over.

"Everyone okay?" asked Tails.

"Yes, we're alright, Tails," called Mina, "Just trying to keep scaredy-hog Sonic from causing a scene."

"Okay, good!" Tails called back, "Just make sure he doesn't puncture the coat!"

"Don't worry, he won't!" Mina replied, making sure Sonic stayed in her lap.

The tunnel seemed to almost go on in the dark, with very little light to be seen, and the tunnel entrance now seemingly miles away. However, some sheds of light did eventually come through the dark tunnel, via the rocky tunnel ceiling.

Holes of light shined through like spotlights, making the tunnel seem like a road tunnel, giving the family of four some light to help guide them through the dark water tunnel. It almost felt like being on a dark water ride in an amusement park.

After a little bit of silence, Zooey spoke up to break it.

"Um, it's a good thing we're not claustrophobic. If Sonic was stuck between a rock and a hard place over even a small puddle of water, we'd probably never hear the end of it."

Tails giggled at the little joke his girlfriend made.

"Hehe, good one, sweetie," Tails said, making Zooey giggle.

"Are you suggesting that I have claustrophobia?" accused Sonic, "I have astraphobia! Those are two different things and you very well know it!"

"Sonic, Zooey was just kidding with you," said Mina calmly, "Just calm down, honey. It'll be over soon."

"It'd better be! I can't stand this!" panted Sonic.

Mina just sighed in annoyance to herself and kept a firm grip on her panicking boyfriend. Ever since they stepped foot in this water cave, Sonic had been doing nothing but whimpering and panicking over puddles of water, and he was making a big fuss over having to sit on an inflatable coat made by Tails, as a makeshift boat to travel down a stream of water, heading into a dark tunnel to who knows where.

Trying her best to ignore her boyfriend's moaning, Mina looked around at the tunnel, and felt a little uneasy about something in it.

"How long does this tunnel go on for, Tails?" she asked.

"I'm not sure!" Tails replied back, "It seems to go on for some time! It's not like this tunnel has anything surprising for us!"

But no sooner did Tails say those words, something surprising did happen.

A sudden drop inside the rocky tunnel then caused Tails to float straight down a slide like drop, making the coat raft go faster, and chasing an unsuspecting Tails, Zooey, Mina and Sonic to scream in alarm as they felt a drop down what was apparently a water slide in the cave.

Sonic, though, was the loudest one to scream out of the other three in the group.

Then, as the slide came back down to a flat line ...

*SPLASH!*

... a mighty splash was heard, as it apparently soaked the family of four with water, and it made Sonic shout in agony, feeling the cold water soak his fur and only further agitating him.

"AARGGHHH! I really hate this tunnel!" he shouted.

"Whoo! What a ride!" Tails exclaimed, surprised, "But that, to be honest, was an amazing surprise!"

"I wasn't expecting that to be honest, guys!" said Zooey, "But who would put a water slide inside a cave? And in the dark?"

"If it's my own guess, then I'd say it was the Ancients who made this cave?" suggested Mina, "Although, it couldn't have been them, so I can't really tell who did this. Other than that, it was definitely a big surprise."

"Not to me, it wasn't!" shouted Sonic, although no one bothered to listen to his very whiny complaint.

* * *

A little while later, the family of four had finally reached the end of the very long tunnel, and arrived at the end of the water stream at a small beach-like shore. The inflatable coat raft slowed down on the water, with Tails guiding it with his arms to slow down, before eventually coming to a stop on the small beach.

Tails made sure to use his arms to stop himself from digging his forehead into the sand, while Sonic, who was almost looking like a pale ghost after traveling on water for so long, looked quite relieved to finally reach land again.

"Well, here we are, guys!" caled Tails, "We've reached the end of the stream!"

"Oh, finally!" exclaimed Sonic, releasing himself from Mina's arms, standing up from her lap, jumped off the inflatable coat and onto the sandy beach with a spin dash, "I'm finally free from that pool of unforgiving water!"

"For now, at least," Tails muttered to himself, "All right, guys, if you can step off the coat, I can release the air from it."

Nodding, Zooey picked up the picnic basket off her lap, and stepped off the inflatable coat raft and onto the beach, where she placed the basket down on the sand. Mina then stood up and looked down at Tails with a smile of gratitude. It seemed that his creative genius had impressed her greatly.

"Smart thinking with your coat back there, Tails," Mina complimented, before jumping onto the sand, "You're certainly a very creative person."

Tails blushed a little and chuckled, feeling that Mina's compliment was sweet and generous. He then felt Zooey and Mina carefully drag him onto the small beach, before helping him stand up right, much to his surprise but appreciation.

"Hehe, thank you, Mina," said Tails as he reached for another button on his inflatable coat, "I was inspired by an animated TV show called 'Inspector Gadget', which had a cyborg human inspector with gadgets built into him. This coat was one of the many gadgets he wore on the show."

As Mina nodded in understanding, and while Zooey walked off to check on Sonic, Tails pulled the button on his coat, which then released the air from inside the material of the coat, deflating it back to normal and becoming all smooth and flat again. With his arms now back to his sides, Tails smiled as he patted his coat and made sure all the air was out of it.

The two-tailed fox then glanced up at Mina, who giggled and winked at him, smiling at his adorable nature. Tails grinned back in return, as the two friends walked over to see how Sonic was getting on, recovering from his panic attack on the water ride. He was starting to calm down slowly, but they were sure a chili dog would quicken the process.

"Well, apart from that surprise water slide, I think that was a pretty good boat ride," grinned Mina before teasingly asking Sonic, "Did you enjoy that ride, sugar plum?"

Sonic gazed up at Mina with a look that could be clearly seen as that he had not enjoyed that water ride at all. He was just glad to be out of that water.

"Do I even have to tell you the answer to that one?" he said, glaring with such a moody expression.

"Aww, come on, Sonic!" said Zooey, "At least we made it. There could've been a worse thing to happen in that tunnel."

"Yeah, me drowning," Sonic simply replied.

"Oh, stop being so self-centered on yourself, Sonic, and help us set up the picnic for our lunch together," said Tails, "A chili dog will at least cheer you up from your grumpy mood."

"I am NOT grumpy," Sonic hissed, "I'm feeling humiliated."

"All just because we made you come on that water ride, Sonic?" said Mina, feeling a bit annoyed at her boyfriend's negative attitude, "Look, just please stop complaining and set out the blanket for our family picnic."

Mina was actually starting to become a bit upset with her sugar plum for trying to bring down her little cave adventure. His negative attitude towards her didn't seem to help either, and it was trying to bring her down, but she did fight off the negative emotion that came with it.

With a frustrated grunt and without even acknowledging his own family, Sonic moodily helped set out the picnic blanket and other items, as the family of four sat down on the beach to have their lunch, with chili dogs, fruit and other foods they had packed.

Tails and Zooey ignored Sonic's bad mood, though Mina began to grow concerned for her boyfriend. She still had her new guitar slung on her back, although how it managed to stay dry during that water slide in the tunnel was unclear. She did think about playing some calm music on it to help get Sonic in a better mood, although it was clear that he was not in the mood to listen to anything calm right now.

With no words to say to his family, Sonic just quietly munched down on his two chili dogs, but his grumpy look didn't last for long, as he managed to get a quick glance at Mina, who briefly looked at him for a second, before sighing to herself and turning away while setting out her food. It was then that something clicked inside the blue hedgehog.

His bad attitude to his girlfriend was upsetting her.

His moody expression fading away, Sonic began to think about how he had been to his own family, ever since they stepped foot in this cursed cave. A small droplet of water dripped onto his head from above, but he didn't even flinch this time. He couldn't help but think about how much he was bringing Mina down like this.

Sonic knew that he had to stop being this moody hedgehog, and make it up to both Mina and his family. He started to think about something, as he continued to bite into his chili dog.

* * *

A little while later after having lunch together, the family of four were now walking further into the rocky water caves, with Mina leading the way, and Sonic walking along from behind, apparently looking deep in thought about seeing the slightly upset look in Mina's eyes. Tails and Zooey were walking in between the two of them, as they clambered over some rocks.

"So, what do you think we'll find in this cave, Mina?" asked Zooey.

"Which is not an exit," added Tails, glancing at Sonic briefly, who didn't seem to be paying attention.

"Well, I hear that there is a legendary cavern full of crystals and gemstones somewhere in these caves, guys," explained Mina as she stepped over a rock, "Apparently, it's a very beautiful cavern and it's very rare, too."

"How rare?" called Sonic.

"Um... v-very rare, r-really," replied Mina, a little hesitant to talk to her boyfriend.

Sonic seemed to notice this, and it caused him to start worrying about the love of his life. Did his negative attitude towards her earlier cause something to hurt Mina's heart?

Before long, Mina noticed a faint light ahead, and she froze in place and stared straight at it with curious wonder in her eyes.

Tails and Zooey noticed this, and stopped.

"What is it, Mina?" asked Zooey.

"I see something ahead," answered Mina.

Then, they all saw it; the faint light that seemed to consist of many colors, about a hundred yards away.

"Come on! Let's get a closer look!" shouted Mina excitedly, and she ran ahead with her three companions following closely.

"It just might be what I think it is!" said Mina.

As they got to the end of the tunnel and into a large cave room, they looked all around and gasped at what they saw. Even when Sonic saw it in his gloomy state, it was immediately replaced by utter amazement.

Dozens of crystals lined the walls of the cave, many of them different colors. They illuminated the room with their many colors and created such a beautiful scene. It looked like a sight for sore eyes. None of them could believe this to be real. It seemed like a dream, but this was no dream. It was all real. It was like a dream come true.

Mina almost teared up from the absolutely beautiful scene as crystals shined and sparkled along the walls. Tails and Zooey were in awe at seeing the wonderful cave full of precious gemstones and crystals, while Sonic was slowly beginning to change his mood from the sight of bright gems. He could see his family was excited at finding this possible treasure, and it started to make him rethink about his earlier attitude towards his family.

After a short awestricken silence, Mina finally spoke, in an excited tone of voice that almost made her sound like a young school girl.

"Oh, my gosh!" she squeaked excitedly, cupping her hands on the sides of her face, "Just look at this beautiful cave! It's absolutely gorgeous!"

"It's like a paradise of crystals in here!" Tails added, feeling as excited as Mina, "How come we didn't know of this cave before?"

"Maybe it's because whoever discovered it before us, didn't want to share it to the world or the village?" suggested Zooey, clasping her hands together as she stared at the crystals, "Either way, we've found the secret treasure!"

"It's very beautiful, I will say," admitted Sonic.

"Well, let's go inside and take a look for ourselves!" said Mina, excitedly dashing into the cave to take a look at the crystals.

Sonic, Tails and Zooey were quick to follow her inside, and no sooner did they step inside, they were greeted by the many crystals that shined on the walls and ceiling of the rocky tunnel. Mina had already gone ahead to look at the crystals deep in the cave.

"Isn't it beautiful in here, Tails?" Zooey asked Tails.

"Yeah, it's wonderful, sweetheart," Tails agreed, before turning to Sonic, "What do you think of this cave, Sonic?"

Sonic, however, didn't answer. He was staring at the many beautiful crystals, and their beauty and priceless looking shapes and sizes just seemed to melt away at his heart. Even when another drop of water from the cave roof dripped onto his head, the blue hedgehog didn't flinch.

The beautiful gems made him think about Mina, and how very unfair he had been to his girlfriend. He sighed to himself as he slowly rubbed a hand over his face, realizing just how selfish he had been for not keeping his promise to his girlfriend to staying calm around water.

"If only there was someway I could make it up to Mina," he murmured to himself, "I've been terrible to her and to my family."

"Sonic?" said Tails, bringing the blue hedgehog back around, "Are you okay?"

"Oh! Um, y-yeah, I'm alright," Sonic replied, before he sped off into the crystal cave, clearly feeling troubled.

As he ran off, Tails gazed at Zooey, who in return just shrugged her shoulders, having no idea what was going on with Sonic. The two foxes followed in after the blue hedgehog, taking in the beautiful crystals and gemstones that were lying around the whole cave tunnel, making a wonderful sight to see.

When they got to some different caves to look through, Zooey and Tails decided to temporarily split off to investigate some of the crystals that were around on the walls. Giving each other a quick kiss, Tails ran off in one direction, while Zooey ran in another.

Mina had gone off alone to look at some magnificently gorgeous red and blue crystals which shone around the cave she was in, making it look very bright and colorful. It warned her heart to see such amazing gemstones being hidden in a cave away from prying eyes, never to be found by anyone until today.

The blue and red colors seemed to remind her of Sonic, since he was blue and wore red shoes. Mina sighed to herself sadly, thinking about how her boyfriend's bad mood was bringing her down, just because she made him sit near water in that tunnel. Tears tried to spill from her eyes, but the mongoose girl fought against them.

Seeing a nearby gemstone which looked like a seat, Mina got her guitar off from her back, and sat herself down on it, holding her guitar in her hands, before giving it a bit of a gentle strum.

"Oh, Sonic," she sighed, strumming her guitar again, "I just wish that you could cheer up and enjoy this adventure. With you looking like a grumpy cat, I can't even seem to talk to you now, and all because of your aquaphobia getting in the way of enjoying this adventure? I wish you could be braver around water."

Looking around the crystals which seemed to resemble the colors of her boyfriend, Mina sighed again as a song idea began to form in her head. She didn't seem to need any words to sing this one, as she started strumming her guitar some more, getting an upbeat melody onto it. Then, she began signing to herself.

* * *

While Zooey had went off in her own cave of crystals, Sonic had gone into a cave of his own, which had beautiful crystals and gemstones seen on parts of the ground and hanging on the sides of the rocky cave walls.

The cave was filled with lots of purple, white, grey and lavender crystals, being seen as a magnificent sight that any treasure hunter or explorer would want to take back with them as their prized possessions, or potentially sell them to someone to become a millionaire in their lives.

However, these crystals didn't really make Sonic think about money, because he was not really the millionaire type. He was really thinking about Mina, because the purple and lavender crystals seemed to remind him of his girlfriend's beautiful purple hair, and they reminded him of her bubbly and adventurous personality, not to mention her fame and popularity as a celebrity on Bygone Island.

He had never dated a celebrity before Mina came into his life, and he was so lucky to have a sweet girlfriend like her, who's singing voice was so angelic and lovely that it could lift up anybody's spirits whenever they felt down. The songs she wrote and made, especially the 'Racing Hearts' song, was one of Sonic's favorites from the celebrity mongoose girl.

Looking at the crystals, Sonic sighed a little and thought about a way to make it up to Mina for his bad mood he had given her. Anything that he could get for her would surely make her happy, especially if it was a crystal.

"Oh, Mina," he said to himself, "What can I get for you to tell you how sorry I am for being rude to you? I know these crystals are beautiful, just as you are, but there must be an extra special one to give to you."

No sooner did Sonic say that, a glimmer of light soon caught in his eyes, which made him flinch a bit and rub his eyes, before he glanced up to see where that glimmer came from. When he looked up to the rocky cave wall beside him, he saw something that looked absolutely gorgeous ...

On top of the ledge was a big and shiny purple gemstone that looked bigger than all others. Its purple, glowing appearance easily reminded Sonic of his girlfriend, and the size of it looked huge compared to the rest. It looked perfect in Sonic's eyes as a possible gift for Mina.

"Whoa," he gasped, gazing up at the big gem, "That's a pretty big crystal, and it's a perfect gift to let Mina know how sorry I am to her, ... but ... how can I get it from up there?"

Determined to get that crystal, Sonic attempted to run up the side of the wall with his speed, but the wall's surfaces were so rocky and rough that it caused his footing his slip off consistently, and he ended up falling back down to the ground, where he got some bits of small stones and dirt smudged onto his quills.

When the running up the wall failed, he tried to simply climb the wall, but found that there was no grip on the sides to hold on to, so that made this attention pretty much pointless. Sonic landed back down on the ground with a frustrated grunt, and kicked the wall, which only made him hurt his foot in the process.

"Man, when did cave walls become such an enemy?" he lamented, looking up at the wall, "How can I get that crystal without injuring myself any further?"

Suddenly, he heard echoing footsteps walking into the cave he was standing in, which made him turn around and get into a defensive position, ready to fight a possible enemy. However, as the walking came closer, the figure approaching soon turned out to be none other than Tails.

"Ahh, there you are, Sonic!" he said, still wearing his coat, "I was wondering where you had gotten to! What are you doing down here?"

Sonic, not answering that question right away as he got out of his defensive position, glanced back up at the big purple crystal, before turning back to Tails.

"Um, Tails? A little help here, please?" he called to his brother, gesturing him with his hand.

Tails, knowing that Sonic's tone has changed following the picnic earlier, curiously headed over to see what was on his big brother's mind.

"What is it, Sonic?" he asked before chuckling with a tease, "I'm not quite sure you'll be needing my help from that grumpy attitude earlier."

Sonic glared at his brother for that teasing comment. While Tails may have most likely forgiven him, it wasn't really necessary to get a little tease from him, just because the crystals in the cave were cheering him up, and making him feel guilty for his attitude.

"Very funny, Tails," Sonic remarked sarcastically, before he looked back up at the big, purple crystal on the ledge, "Could you help me grab that purple crystal up there, please?"

The two-tailed fox looked up at where Sonic was pointing, and he, too, saw the purple crystal sitting on the top edge of the cave wall. It looked big, shiny and purple, almost like a priceless gem that belonged in a museum.

"What are you planning on doing with it?" he asked curiously, "I will say that's a pretty big gemstone you want to get from up there."

"You'll see," winked Sonic, "Now, let's go and get it!"

Tails then looked up at the high rock face, and he looked unsure about the height. The fact that this purple gemstone was sitting on the very top of the wall, looked almost impossible to reach. The wall felt big, and both the fox and hedgehog looked almost small compared to it.

"Gee, I'm not sure, bro," said Tails skeptically, "I could try lifting you with my tails, but I can only get so high carrying you. Not only that, but the combined weight of you and that big gem could cause me to fall down fast and hit the ground."

"Uh, ... how about that coat of yours?" suggested Sonic.

"Oh, what was I thinking?!" said Tails, slapping his own face, before chuckling, "How could I have forgotten! This inflatable coat could let me reach higher ground without even having to use my tails! I won't have to feel so tried then!"

"That's just what I was thinking," smirked Sonic, "And you're meant to be the genius of Team Sonic."

"Heh, very funny, Sonic," remarked Tails, rolling his eyes.

"Look, could you try getting me up there, please?" asked Sonic.

"Well, it's worth a shot," replied Tails, before grabbing him by the waist, "Here we go again."

Tails then pulled the button on his coat once again, activating the inflatable coat's ability just like earlier. Slowly, the coat inflated once again with the arms and material becoming like a soft cushion, as it carried the two brothers up to the height of the crystals.

Sonic was not interested in the inflatable coat earlier on when it was the group's raft through the water stream tunnel, but once Tails started using the coat again to fly, the blue hedgehog was starting to become impressed by the coat's soft, floating ability, as well as Tails' creative ideas.

Once they reached the top of the high ledge where the big crystal was sitting atop at, Sonic eagerly began pulling on the purple crystal to get it out. It took him several tries before he was finally able to lodge it out of the wall.

"Got it!" he said, and both his and the crystal's combined weight began to pull Tails back down, allowing the inflatable coat to gently float back down slowly.

"So, what do ya think of my coat now, Sonic?" chuckled Tails.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, bro!" commented Sonic, "I think you should use this handy gadget more regularly in the team!"

"Hehe, I'm glad you like it!" smiled Tails, "I really like the coat myself! I think it rather suits me really well!"

Just as the two brothers came down gently on the stone cave ground, Tails once again pulled the button on his coat to deflate it back to normal, before the fox let Sonic back onto the ground.

"You are one smart little brother, Tails," Sonic said with a grin, "Thanks for helping me out."

"You're welcome, big bro," Tails replied with a cute smile on his face.

The blue hedgehog chucked heartily, and gave the fox a brief hug before running off to find Mina. Tails simply smiled at him as he left the cave, before taking off his inflatable coat and putting it over his shoulder, as he walked off the way he came in to find Zooey.

* * *

Mina was still strumming on her guitar and singing to herself about the crystals that were surrounding her in the cave she sat in. Her guitar rifts echoed around the cave and her singing voice sounded angelic and magnificent that anyone would mistake the water caves as singing caves.

Her new song that she was singing without any songwriting paper sounded perfect and had rhythm to it. If anyone could perform such a song with energy and enthusiasm, then it was Mina Mongoose, celebrity star of Bygone Island, and the second fastest thing alive, next to Sonic the Hedgehog, of course.

Sonic quietly appeared in the cave his girlfriend was in, having overheard her amazing guitar rifts and her wonderful singing voice, as he carried the big purple crystal in his hands, intending to give it to her.

Sonic knew Mina was a great singing sensation in Hedgehog Village, and her voice and guitar rifts were what made her popular in the town, as well as kind and caring to those around her. Listening to his girlfriend's song made the hedgehog happy in his heart.

Taking a quick sigh, Sonic stepped inside and approached his girlfriend with the big crystal in his hands.

"Mina?" he called gently as he walked in.

Mina heard her name being called just as she finished playing the final rift on her guitar, although she already knew just who was calling her, judging by the teenage sounding voice. Sighing, she slung her guitar around her back, and turned to gaze up at her sugar plum, but before she could say anything, she gasped in stunned shock, her eyes beginning to sparkle from what her boyfriend was holding in his hands.

The mongoose girl saw that Sonic was holding a big and beautiful purple crystal in his hands, that matched the color of her hair, and it shined almost as brightly as the moon. Sonic could see Mina was shocked by the crystal he was showing to her, and he hoped that this would be enough for her to forgive him for his bad attitude.

"I found this big purple crystal, and I thought it looked just as beautiful as you are, Mina," Sonic explained as he walked over to Mina, carefully carrying the big crystal in his hands, "I thought perhaps I'd give this to you to show how very sorry I am for being negative to you on this adventure."

Mina couldn't even utter any words at all. She was so mesmerized by the beautiful crystal. It shined so beautifully, and even she could see herself through its reflections. She glanced up at Sonic and saw how sorry he was to her. A tear of happiness almost trickled down her cheek as a smile began to slowly form on her face.

"I'm very sorry for being such an idiot to you, Mina," said Sonic, "I hope that you can forgive me for it, and accept this beautiful crystal, as a symbol for our love. You're the most wonderful girl on the whole of Bygone Island, and I couldn't love anyone else but you only."

Hearing those words, Mina almost burst into happy tears, and she grabbed Sonic by the front of his neck chief and gave him a very special kiss on the lips, which caught the blue hedgehog off guard, but he was quick to return the kiss.

After a moment, Mina broke off the kiss and looked at him with happy eyes, while wiping off her tears of joy.

"Sonic, I forgive you with all of the love within my heart," she said, smiling in appreciation at Sonic, "This beautiful crystal is just enough for me to forgive you for all that has happened today on this adventure."

"I'm glad you love this crystal, Mina," said Sonic, smiling in appreciation that he was forgiven by the love of his life, "I won't be negative to you again, and I will most definitely not break anymore promises to you."

"That's all I can ever ask from you, Sonic," said Mina as she kissed the hedgehog's cheek, "I love you, sugar plum."

"Hehe. I love you too, Mina," replid Sonic, returning the kiss on his girlfriend's forehead, "Now, let's find Zooey and Tails, and go home with the treasure we found."

Nodding, Mina took hold of Sonic's hand, and the two made their way out of the cave to find their two companions.

* * *

Sonic and Mina had found Tails and Zooey, who had managed to get the empty picnic basket loaded with lots of crystals and gemstones, varying in different colors and shapes. After a little reunion together, they decided to find a way out of the water caves, so they took a nearby tunnel route and went to investigate it.

The tunnel seemed to stretch on for a while, a little longer than the water tunnel from earlier. There was very little light, and there wasn't a single intersection to be found. It seemed that they could be coming to a dead end, or the tunnel probably stretched on for miles.

"It's dark in here, guys," said Zooey.

"I can barely see anything in here, either," agreed Mina.

"You need some light, girls?" said Tails, "Don't worry, I have the solution."

A second later, with the push of a button, Tails had his tool belt, goggles and shoes light up with yellow light like an illumination, brightening up the tunnel. Sonic's neck chief, sports tape and shoes were also lit up, glowing blue. This was of course, Team Sonic's usefully bright Luminous Suits, and the bright lights greatly helped Mina and Zooey see better in the dark.

"Any better?" chuckled Tails.

"Much, thank you, Tails," said Mina, "And you too, Sonic."

"No problem," Sonic said with a thumbs up, "Now, we can look where we are ..."

*Splash*

Suddenly, before he could finish his sentence, Sonic heard himself stepping in something ...

He looked down, and he saw what looked like ... water.

"N-n-no!" he stammered as the horror dawned on him again.

"What is it now? More water?" chuckled Tails teasingly.

"Oh, please not more water! Oh, please no!" panted Sonic.

When they looked ahead, they saw another stream of water flooding the cave floor. The hedgehog panicked and took a few steps backwards before Mina grabbed him to prevent his escape. She knew Sonic was quick to break promises to her, but this time, she was making sure that he didn't try anything funny again.

Just from looking at the water stream, it was clear that the family would have to once again travel along it in order to find a possible way out, and not another beach.

"I guess we'll have to use your coat again, Tails," said Zooey.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Tails answered in reply, "My coat wont be required for this ride."

"And just what makes you say that!?" asked Sonic frantically.

Tails' reply was pointing over to what looked like a rubber raft with two oars accompanying it. It looked big enough for the four of them, including the big purple crystal and the basket full of smaller crystals.

"There's a raft over here," Tails pointed out, "It looks like it's big enough for all four of us. Let's see if it still floats."

Hearing that last word brought more chills to Sonic's spine. He breathed quickly and desperately tried to pull his way out, but Mina refused to let him go. He closed his eyes and begged for it all to be over, but when he opened them again, he knew that it was once again a true nightmare.

Tails brought the raft into the water and waited a few moments. The raft stayed afloat, and he gave the thumbs up to his three companions.

"The raft's good!" he said, "Let's get outta here!"

"Yeah! Let's!" agreed Sonic hastily.

"Calm down, Sonic," said Mina, "You really need to take swimming lessons."

The mongoose chuckled to herself as she noticed her boyfriend glaring at her like she had just made a very bad joke to tease him.

The four all got on the raft, and Tails grabbed two nearby oars and began rowing their way down the stream. Sonic panted as sweat ran down his face. He desperately hoped this would all be over soon, but with Mina keeping a firm grip on his arm, he knew that escaping was not an option.

While Sonic was forced to hold the heavy picnic basket full of crystals, Zooey took great care of holding the big purple crystal in her hands and lap.

The journey through the second tunnel of water was a bit longer than the first one, but the speed of the raft was a bit faster than when the group were sitting on Tails' inflatable coat.

After a little while, Tails looked ahead and saw what could only be light. It wasn't just light, though. It looked like more than just a light bulb in a faintly-lit bedroom ...

"Guys, ... I ... think we may have found our way out," Tails said a little cautiously.

"Really?" gasped Sonic.

"I see light ahead," said Zooey as Tails rowed a little faster to speed up the raft.

The light slowly grew bigger, and before long the fox was able to make it out as sunlight.

"It's sunlight!" shouted Tails, "We're almost out of here!"

"Alright!" cheered Zooey.

"Finally!" said Sonic.

"Just keep it steady, Tails!" said Mina, "We don't want to capsize this raft!"

"Please don't say that, now," muttered Sonic nervously.

Tails steadily rowed the raft until all he could see was the light. The stream traveled uphill just a little, but that didn't stop them from making their way out of the hole. They looked around and suddenly found themselves back in the jungle, surrounded by trees and sunlight.

The family of four reached the end of the cave stream, and the raft came to a stop. Mina finally let her grip on Sonic's arm go, and he was the first one to spin-jump his way out of the living nightmare he had to endure ... twice.

"YES!" screamed Sonic joyfully as he jumped out, "It's finally over!"

"Whew!" panted Tails tiredly, as he set the oars aside, "I think I've had enough rowing for one day. It can really make your arms ache."

"That was some adventure, wouldn't you say?" commented Mina, grinning happily, "Apart from the negative reception from a certain scaredy-hog, I absolutely loved this misadventure in the water caves!"

"We should do that again sometime!" remarked Zooey, which soon earned her a look from Sonic that said 'Never again'.

He really didn't want to do this again. EVER.

Tails stopped the raft midway down the creek, and they all got out and stepped onto jungle ground for the first time in what seemed like hours, very relieved to finally be out of that cave. Tails switched off his and Sonic's Luminous Suits.

"Say, Tails, those Luminous Suits you and Sonic have look pretty cool," Mina complimented with a grin, "Do you think you could make some for us sometime?"

"Maybe," shrugged Tails, "We'll just have to wait and see."

As they gathered up their things from their adventure, which included the picnic basket loaded with diamonds, crystals and gemstones, along with Mina's very special big purple diamond gemstone that Sonic gave to her, the family of four left the water caves behind them and they walked off home together, feeling glad that the adventure was now over and done with.

"So, what was that new song about, Mina?" Tails asked curiously as they walked through the jungle.

"You'll be surprised, Tails," replied Mina, smiling, "Once I get the lyrics written on paper tomorrow, I think you'll be very pleased to read them over."

"Do you think our friends in town will be very surprised by what we collected from the caves?" Zooey asked with a smile, glancing at the heavy picnic basket.

"Possibly," yawned Sonic, "But we'll talk about that later. I just wanna get home and take a nap."

"Well, at least we've had an adventure that we will never forget," said Mina.

"Sonic will most likely want to forget about this one," teased Tails, which earned him a glare from Sonic.

With their gemstones and crystals, they disappeared into the jungle with memories of this cave adventure to be remembered for quite a long time.

Well, perhaps not for Sonic, anyways.

* * *

 _ **Whew! Finally, we finished this nightmare of an episode!**_

 _ **This has been an incredibly difficult episode for us to write, because we have been struggling to get this finished for weeks, and we tried many different ideas for this one. So, in the future, we will be doing more easier family-based episodes revolving around the family of four.**_

 _ **This had become very complicated to write. In fact, so much that grimlock is considering this his least favorite episode so far. Add to that, I'm still working on my "Secret Love" rewrite, and that greatly slowed us down on this.  
**_

 _ **You might have guessed by now, but grimlock is an avid fan of "Inspector Gadget," and the inflatable coat was some fun idea he came up with. We may possibly use it again in the future.**_

 _ **Episode 7 will hopefully be much easier and simpler, and it won't be as long or difficult to write as this one has been, but we will take our time.**_

 _ **We hope you enjoyed it regardless, and we'll see you next time.**_


	8. Dance Under the Stars

_**Here we are with Episode Seven in our 'Family of Four' fanfic series, which stars Sonic, Tails, Mina and Zooey. It's been a long time since we made any episodes, so you could say that we've been on a mini hiatus.**_

 _ **But we're back on it!**_

 _ **Yesterday was grimlock's birthday, so we decided to write an episode that would be somewhat fitting for the occasion, even though this does not involve birthdays.**_

 _ **This episode will be shorter than our other six episodes, but we promise it will be much better than our infamously complicated 'Water Caves' episode, which was an absolute nightmare to write. This one will be much better, less complicated and more simplistic.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

 _ **DANCE UNDER THE STARS**_

* * *

It was a beautiful, starry night sky on Bygone Island, and above the tropical island were billions of bright, twinkling stars shining within the sky, with a full moon shining down on the jungle and giving the entire island a completely beautiful and quiet atmosphere. Nothing could spoil tonight's lovely atmosphere, not even Dr. Eggman.

Within Hedgehog Village, a nighttime event had been set up for the villagers, which was called 'Dance Under The Stars', and this was a special dance event that took place once a year in the month of June, where people could dance under the starry night sky, while quiet and majestic music would be played over speakers to make the dance event feel special.

Everyone had mixed feelings about this dance event. While most of the townspeople loved to dance with others under the stars and have a magical time, some people would rather prefer to just sit on the side and look at the stars, or just not bother to attend the event and stay home. Either way, it was their loss, and they would regret it sooner or later in their lives.

Everyone in town was getting themselves ready for the start of the annual dance event, and Mayor Fink was the one person who funded the event, despite the fact that he would rather use the money for something constructive instead, but due to his slightly greedy intentions, he was precluded from using the money for the dance event.

As the dance event was starting up in town, Sonic the Hedgehog and his girlfriend Mina Mongoose, were on their way to the dance, with Sonic wearing a black coat, white shirt and red bow tie, replacing his brown neck chief he usually wore, while Mina was wearing her beautiful black and purple streak dance dress with glittering golden stubs sparkling on the sides of it.

"Oh, Sonic, it's such a beautiful night out here," sighed Mina dreamily as she clung onto her boyfriend's arm as they walked.

"It certainly is, my darling," Sonic agreed with a smile, "They say June 5th is the most beautiful night of the year with all of the stars in the night sky."

"And they certainly picked the right date for the dance night under those stars, too," Mina added with a smile, "It always makes me remember the first time we danced under the stars together when we first met, sugar plum. Do you remember that night, Sonic?"

Sonic nodded with a smile.

"I certainly do, Mina," he chuckled, "And I shall never forget the first dance we shared together."

Smiling lovingly at her boyfriend, Mina gave Sonic a loving kiss to the cheek, making the blue hedgehog chuckle as they finally arrived at the dance.

When everyone saw Mina Mongoose make her appearance with Sonic, lots of the townspeople were beginning to ask Mina for her autograph and picture, because they all knew that she was a very famous singer and songwriter in Hedgehog Village, whose singing voice sounded like an angel from heaven. Of course, Mina loved her fans, and she was proud of being a celebrity, but she also loved her Sonic within her famous celebrity life.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tails was in another part of town escorting his girlfriend Zooey over to the 'Dance Under the Stars' event, dressed up very smartly for the occasion.

Zooey was wearing her sparkly rose red dance dress, which was the same color as her crimson red dress she wore every day, only with sparkly white diamond stubs on the skirt and hips of the dress, which sparkled so much like Mina's golden stubbed dress. Zooey also wore a pearl necklace around her neck, a pearl bracelet on her wrist, and she had a red rose sitting in her hair.

Tails was wearing his little tuxedo jacket and white shirt outfit that he used once to try and act romantic to Zooey, when he was crushing on her. To add a little bit of fun, he even wore the white mask over his left eye to make it seem like he was 'Phantom of the Opera'.

Despite the previous attempt of using this little costume to try and win Zooey over when he was crushing on her, Tails could now wear it with confidence, since Zooey was now his official girlfriend, and he didn't have to worry about trying to act 'romantic' to her, because he now truly loved her with all of his heart and soul, which made a special romantic bond between Tails and Zooey that would never break.

As the young lovers made their way to the dance event, Zooey couldn't help but giggle at Tails' little costume for the dance.

"I must admit, you look pretty adorable in that little outfit, Tails," chuckled Zooey.

"Zooey," Tails said, blushing, "I'm not-"

"Adorable? Oh, but you are," smiled Zooey, "Just imagine when the Phantom of the Opera joins the dance floor with the girl of his dreams. It will be such an adorable sight for everyone to see!"

"Oh!" chuckled Tails sheepishly, his cheeks turning bright red in embarrassment, "I wouldn't say that, sweetheart. Remember when I tried to impress you by wearing this once, when I was crushing on you? You closed the window on me."

"Aww, I just thought you was acting really weird at the time, Tails," replied Zooey, "But now I know that you look really nice in that outfit, and you're wearing it just for me."

"Hehe, only for the girl of my dreams," chuckled Tails, holding Zooey's hand tightly in his own.

Zooey responded in a similar manner to Tails, by holding his hand tightly in her hand, showing that their love was very strong and unbreakable.

"Tonight will be just as special as that day we fell in love," said Zooey, "Just imagine the stars in the night sky twinkling down on us while we express our love so beautifully."

"Y-yeah," giggled Tails nervously, scratching the back of his head, "I've always been nervous about this event, but with you around, I think I'll be in for the happiest night of my life."

"Aww, Tails! Me, too!" replied Zooey, planting a kiss on his cheek.

Sharing some laughs, the two young lovers continued on their way to the dance event that was now just a few minutes away. They knew Sonic and Mina were going to be there for sure, but their friends Amy, Knuckles, Sticks and Perci were also said to attend the dance, since it was very special night under the stars.

Although, Sticks was a somewhat inexperienced dancer.

Eventually, after they arrived into town, Tails and Zooey soon saw Sonic and Mina were already at the dance, and they were just starting to share a slow dance together, after Mina had managed to finish signing autographs for the fans that crowded around her. Being a celebrity was one big thing in life Mina really appreciated, as well as her family and friends.

A music player was playing music with a local citizen working on the music as a DJ player. The dance was set up mostly in the Meh Burger area, where the tables and chairs were moved out of the way and placed to the sides, whilst people danced together or alone to the music that was playing over the speakers.

As Mina danced with Sonic, the young mongoose girl suddenly caught sight of Tails and Zooey walking in. Grinning brightly, she stopped dancing with her sugar plum and went over to see her two close family members, with Sonic eventually following her after he got spun around unexpectedly by the mongoose.

"Tails! Zooey! You guys made it!" said Mina excitedly.

"Hehe, of course we did!" replied Tails, grinning, "And it seems you guys got here first as always."

"Heh, we're not ones to be late on special occasions, little bro," chuckled Sonic, giving Tails a playful noogie on the head as he did, which made Tails giggle.

"We wouldn't miss out on the annual 'Dance Under The Stars' event in town," added Zooey happily, "And of course, my Tailsy is looking absolutely adorable in his little Phantom of the Opera outfit."

Once again, Tails was blushing red on his cheeks. He claimed to not be adorable, and was more serious and formidable, but both Zooey and Mina thought otherwise that he was more adorable than serious.

"Zooey, seriously," said Tails, blushing, "I'm not adorable."

"Aww, but you are!" giggled Zooey, pinching Tails' blushing cheeks very gently, "Didn't you see yourself in the mirror earlier? There was adorableness written all over it!"

"She's got a point there, little one," added Mina with a smile, "You should be lucky that you have Zooey to call you those lovely words, too, like I always call my Sonic a sweet sugar plum."

Now it was Sonic's turn to blush brightly, and it made Tails chuckle, but the embarrassed blush didn't last long for Sonic, because he immediately chuckled at Mina, before he grabbed her, spun her around, dipped her down and kissed the mongoose on the lips delicately, surprising her quite a bit. Mina was quick to kiss Sonic back and wrap her arms around him as they kissed.

Once the two supersonic young lovers broke off their kiss, they stood back up before turning back to Tails and Zooey, who just smiled at them before gazing at each other lovingly.

"Come on, Tails, let's dance!" said Zooey, "The stars are already out, and we have the whole night to dance under them!"

"Lead the way, my love," replied Tails, smiling romantically.

Giggling excitedly, Zooey grabbed Tails by the hand, and lead him out onto the dance floor where other people were dancing with someone or just dancing alone, while one or two people just sat on the tables to the side.

Tails gently placed one hand on Zooey's hip, and used his other free hand to hold hers, whilst Zooey did the same to him, and the two loving foxes were soon starting to waltz slowly together to some romantic music while the stars shined down on the town.

Zooey's sparkly dress glimmered against the shines of light from the moon above the town, creating a small makeshift starry night like atmosphere for the two, and impressing some nearby townsfolk.

Sonic and Mina watched their young family members dance the night away and then looked at each other with bright, romantic smiles. Now, it was their time to dance alongside them, as Mina flirtatiously offered Sonic her gloved hand to him to escort her to the dance.

"Shall we dance, sugar plum?" asked Mina lovingly with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Absolutely," answered Sonic, taking Mina's hand ever so delicately before leading his girlfriend over to the dance floor.

Soon enough, Mina and Sonic were strutting their stuff on the dance floor, with the glittering golden stubs on Mina's purple and black dress shining and glittering around in the moonlight, whilst they danced together and catching some attention from the townsfolk.

Nearby the dancing couples, Knuckles was carefully slow dancing with Perci the Bandicoot, who was wearing a nice light purple dress and wore purple high heel shoes. Knuckles was doing his best to be careful as he danced with the Bandicoot he had a crush on.

"You're doing really well for a first timer, Knuckles," commented Perci with a smile as she was gently twirled around by the echidna.

"Well, I'm not all about muscle and strength," replied Knuckles, "I'm more like a gentle giant kinda figure to the team."

"And you're quite a handsome 'gentle giant' if I do say so myself," flirted Perci, blinking cutely at the echidna, which made him blush pink on his cheeks.

Elsewhere on the dance floor, Amy Rose, who was wearing a pink and red streaked party dress, was trying to teach Sticks how to dance, although the badger was having extreme difficulties in dancing, along with the fact she had to wear her 'formal' black dress from the awards ceremony night.

She just didn't like wearing it at all, but she was made to, as according to the tradition of the event to wear dresses and suits to the dance.

"Why do I have to wear this ridiculous outfit?!" complained Sticks, "I never liked wearing it when that awards ceremony came to town!"

"Well, how do you think we felt when we tried so hard to make you act like a mature young lady, Sticks?" asked Amy sarcastically, "Now, just follow my lead, okay? Two steps forward, one step back. It's that easy."

"Easy for you, but not for me!" Sticks retorted nervously, "I don't even know my lefts or rights with my feet!"

Sighing and trying her best to keep her cool on, Amy gently started showing Sticks the easy-to-learn steps to dance, by moving one step back, and awaited the almost paranoid badger girl to move two steps forward.

"Come on, Sticks," she encouraged her, "Two steps forward. It's not that hard."

Nearby, Mina and Sonic were dancing together and showing off their dance skills, when all of a sudden Mina once again stopped dancing and caught the sight of Amy trying to teach Sticks how to dance. The mongoose watched with curiosity just as Sonic joined her, putting an arm on his girlfriend's shoulder.

"What's Amy trying to do with Sticks, now?" he asked.

"I think she's trying to help her learn how to dance," answered Mina, "It looks like Sticks is gonna freak out at any minute."

"I know how it feels for her to dance," sighed Sonic, "I tried teaching her to dance myself, and all we did was knock down the background we set up in the living room."

Mina giggled at Sonic for that little memory before both the mongoose and hedgehog watched Sticks eventually start freaking out over her left and right feet, and making Amy let go of her hands immediately.

"GAH!" exclaimed Sticks wildly, "I CAN'T DO THIS!"

Sticks tried to run off, but her frantic frenzy caused her to run straight into Amy and knock them both down onto the dance floor. They landed in a heap and caused themselves to get embarrassing attention from the townspeople staring at them in disbelief.

Amy blushed in embarrassment. Finding herself on the floor was not what she had in mind. Sticks immediately got up and continued to frantically panic, just as Knuckles and Perci came walking over, arms around one another.

"Whoops," commented Knuckles, "Looks like you guys slipped on a banana peel."

"More like Sticks went into panic mode again, Knuckles," corrected Perci.

Tails and Zooey watched the drama unfold, although they were not very surprised at Sticks' wild behavior, given how uncontrollable she was.

"I think someone still needs some dancing lessons," commented Zooey.

"You can say that again," agreed Amy as she got back up.

"Can I go home now?" asked Sticks uncomfortably, and Amy glared at her.

Zooey began thinking of an idea that she and Tails could do together to catch the crowd off guard; something of a small little roleplay based on their fancy appearance.

"Say, Tails, how's about we give everyone something they'll never forget?" suggested Zooey.

"Hmm, ... I think I know where you're getting at," smirked Tails.

Zooey giggled as she gazed at her boyfriend's mischievous-looking smile, even if he meant no mischief at all. Rather, they wanted to impress everyone by doing something completely out of the blue, something that might make the night extra special for the two foxes.

Smiling, the two stepped to the center of the dance floor, facing each other and staring into each other's eyes twinkling under the stars. They stood there, staring, waiting until they knew they had the attention of everyone on the dance floor, then Tails knelt in front of Zooey just as a very romantic piece of classical music began to play over the speakers.

Just as the music started, Tails pulled out a rose he had secretly hidden in his coat pocket and held it out in front of Zooey in a romantic fashion.

"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Lead me, save me from my solitude. Say you want me with you, here beside you. Anywhere you go, let me go, too. Zooey; that's all I ask of you," Tails spoke in a Shakespeare-esque tone.

"Wildly, my Mind beats against you, but my soul always obeys," replied Zooey, copying the same tone in her voice.

"See how she leans her cheek upon my hand," said Tails, pressing her hand against Zooey's cheek gently, "O, that I were a glove upon that hand. That I might touch that cheek."

"Nay gloves n'r mask can hideth the true loveth of mine own heart's desire. Thou art mine own heart anon and f'rev'r," Zooey said romantically, making everyone's eyes go wide in amazement.

"Uh, ... just when did they start studying Shakespeare?" whispered Amy.

"Aren't they just adorable together?" chuckled Mina.

"I can't stand adorable," Sticks muttered quietly to herself.

Sonic chuckled along with Mina and smiled at his little brother. He watched with a smile as Tails, rose still in hand, pulled Zooey closer in bridal style and kissed her passionately on the lips just as the music made a buildup suitable for such a romantic moment. The two closed their eyes and kissed for everyone to see. Nobody could take their eyes off such a beautiful sight, and the music only made the moment even better.

Before long, Tails and Zooey found themselves receiving applause from those surrounding them, as they kissed one another in such a romantic manner.

"Uh, ... w-wow," gasped Sticks in shock and amazement.

"It seems as though they rehearsed," commented Amy.

Everyone watched as Tails and Zooey broke off their kiss and opened their eyes, still staring at each other as if no one else was there, and they started dancing like a groom and bride as the music's crescendo blended into a rhythm they could dance to. It was such a splendid sight for everyone to see.

"I love you, my sweet phantom," said Zooey with a bit of flirtation in her voice.

"And I love you, too, my gorgeous red rose," replied Tails, putting the red rose he had between his teeth with a wink of his eye.

Whilst Tails and Zooey resumed dancing together, Mina looked to Sonic and happily dragged him back out to the dance floor under the stars, and together, they began waltzing to the music playing over the speakers.

"You're a wonderful dancer, Sonic," commented Mina playfully.

"And you're a wonderful singer," replied Sonic as he twirled Mina around gently, "You're the one person who has a set of 'Racing Hearts'."

Giggling with a blush, Mina once again brought Sonic in for a romantic kiss just as the moonlight shined down on them, with the eerie moonlight making Mina's dress sparkle with the golden stubs shining brightly. Soon enough, Sonic and Mina broke off their kiss and carried on dancing under the stars with Tails and Zooey dancing nearby them.

While Sonic danced with Mina, one of the villagers, Wild Cat, had managed to ask Amy for a dance with him, and since the pink hedgehog had no dance partner and that she didn't have the time or patience to try and teach Sticks how to dance again, she accepted Wild Cat's offer to dance, and the two were soon dancing together to the music.

Sonic took a quick glance at Amy dancing with Wild Cat, and when she turned to him, the blue hedgehog gave her a thumbs up, which she smiled and returned the gesture, before resuming her dance with the friendly villager.

Knuckles continued to dance with Perci, who was happily enjoying the time of her life dancing with the 'gentle giant' echidna, as they waltzed to the music.

Doctor Eggman had even attended the Dance Under The Stars event, although he didn't dance because he had tried dancing before and he was terrible at it. Orbot and Cubot were doing their best to strut their stuff on the dance floor, although they could only do the 'robot' dances, since they had no legs.

June 5th was a very special time of the year for the people of Bygone Island, and dancing under the stars was a special event that Sonic, Tails, Mina and Zooey would always attend every year, whenever the stars shined down upon them and their friends.

For the Family of Four, tonight was a very special night.

* * *

 _ **A very short episode for the 'Family of Four' series, but this one was made to celebrate grimlock's birthday, and we haven't written anything on our fanfic series since March after that incredibly stressful 'Water Caves' episode.**_

 _ **The 'Dance Under the Stars' event was based on the idea we put into our now defunct 2018 'Sonic Boom: Lost Love' fanfic. Since we both lost all interest in that old project, we felt that putting the dance event in as an episode in Family of Four would be a nice reference.**_

 _ **This episode was a lot better than the last one, it wasn't very long and complicated, and it was a special episode, too. I couldn't help but think of something Shakespearian between Tails and Zooey for a bit more classical and romantic flavor. ^^**_

 _ **We hope you enjoyed it!**_


End file.
